


Dying Wish - A DBZ Fanfiction

by melissa7613



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: DBZ, Dragon Ball Z - Freeform, Frieza - Freeform, Gen, Gohan - Freeform, Original Character - Freeform, goku - Freeform, vegeta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-08-08 00:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 149,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7736761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melissa7613/pseuds/melissa7613
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a new girl enrolls at Orange Star High School, she has a lot more on her mind than studying. Instead of the normal teenage drama and gossip, she seems to have other things on her mind - should she carry out her father's dying wish or go down a different path?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Who's the New Girl at Orange Star High School?

 

**Chapter 1 – Who’s the New Girl at Orange Star High School?**

In Satan City, a city north of Mount Paozu and south of East City, stood a high school called “Orange Star High School.”  It was a semi-circular building that had four stories to it.  Right inside the building on the first floor contained a main lobby with a lounging area that students could use during their study hall and the stairs to lead to the upper floors.  To the left and right and down a large hallway were classrooms on both sides.  The classrooms on the first floor were dedicated to science classes.  Straight back from the lobby and past the stairs, the hallway was lined with lockers, vending machines, restrooms, and elevators, and at the end was the large cafeteria.  The stairs that sat in the lobby led to the other three floors.  All of the floors had the same set up except that the second, third, and fourth floors didn’t have a lobby or a cafeteria.  Instead, the upper floors were more concerned with having enough classrooms and libraries.  The second floor was dedicated to teaching math, the third floor was dedicated to teaching history, and the fourth floor was dedicated to teaching English.  The classrooms on the first through third floors were of standard size, while the classrooms on the fourth floor were college sized classrooms. In the back of the school, there was a large baseball field, a volleyball court, a basketball court, and off to the side of the school was a gym.  During physical education time, students are able pick one of four sports to play.  Most days at Orange Star High School were ordinarily uneventful except for the obvious teenage drama and gossip.  However, today, on November 13th, at 8:00 AM, there was a new student who was coming to join the school.

            “Well, here goes nothing,” the new girl said to herself as she exhaled and looked at a piece of paper in her left hand.  The paper was her schedule – her schedule of all of her new classes and a map of the school.  As all of the other students ran by her, trying to get to their classes on time, some of them stopped to look at her.  She wasn’t dressed like normal students dressed.  Instead of a face full of caked on makeup, hair nicely done, and a perfectly matched outfit, she wore no makeup around her dark purple eyes, her dark purple hair down flat, and a black hoodie with blue jeans and black tennis shoes.  Conclusion: she was an outcast.  As she noticed the students that were running past her give her weird looks, she decided to ignore them and just keep on walking.  In her right arm were her three textbooks – one for Math, one for Science, one for history, and one for English.  Hanging over her right shoulder was a black messenger bag.  As she walked through the front doors, she was taken back by the enormity of the school.  _It’s 8:05,_ she thought as she looked at the clock on the wall to the right of the door.  _I have five minutes to get to class.  Math.  Where are you?_ As she looked at the map of the school she figured out that she needed to be on the second floor.  Once she got up the stairs, she realized that the second floor was completely empty as all the students had gotten into their classes.  “Great,” she said quietly as she saw how many classrooms there were.  As she moved from the top of the stairs, she looked down each side of the hallway and decided to start out going to the left.  She began walking down the hallway and looking for her classroom – room 206.  After searching the left side for almost two minutes, she went to the other.  Finally, two minutes later, she found it – room 206 – the very last classroom on the left hand side of the right hallway.  _Damn.  I’m late,_ she thought as she twisted the doorknob.  Butterflies began to fill her stomach and her heart began to race as she could already feel the looks that she was going to get as she awkwardly walked into the room.  And she was right.  As she opened the door, everyone’s attention, even the teacher’s, turned towards the outcast girl standing in the doorway.  A few students began to laugh quietly among themselves before being hushed by the teacher.  “Well, hello there!”  The teacher friendly exclaimed.  “It’s 8:08.  I’m afraid you’re three minutes late.”

The girl slowly closed the door behind her as she nervously began to explain her situation.  “It’s my first day here,” she quietly said.  She walked up to the teacher’s desk and handed her the schedule with all of her classes listed.  “Oh!”  The teacher exclaimed.  “I see now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the new girl nodded as she stood by and watched the teacher write her name down in the gradebook – feeling awkward as she knew that the other students were staring at her.  “I believe there’s an extra seat in the back corner,” the teacher said.  “Right back there next to Gohan.  Gohan, will you raise your hand for the young lady?”  _Gohan,_ the new girl thought.  _So it seems they did put me in the right class._ As Gohan did what he was asked, the teacher handed the girl her schedule back and reached out her hand for a handshake.  “My name is Mrs. Satoko.  Welcome to our class,” she said with a smile as the new girl shook her hand.

“Nice to meet you,” she replied with a mirrored smile.  She turned her back towards Mrs. Satoko and began walking to the empty seat next to Gohan.  As she walked by, she could hear the whispers and quiet chuckles from the other students.  Conclusion: teenagers were assholes.  A few seconds later, she sat down in the empty seat in the corner right next to Gohan.  She sat her textbooks on the desk with her schedule on top of them, and her messenger bag on the floor to her right and up against the wall.  “Hi there,” he said quietly as he leaned over to his right to talk to her.  “My name is Gohan.  What’s yours?”  Before she could answer, they were cut off by the teacher shushing them.  Gohan and the new girl turned their attention back towards the front.  “I’m going to call roll now,” Mrs. Satoko began.  “Please say ‘here’ when I call your name.”

            “Do it now,” a voice in the new girl’s head began.  “He’s right there to your left.  Do it now!”

_No.  Not yet,_ she thought in reply to the voice.

“What?  How dare you go against me!  Do it now!”  The voice commanded again.

_I refuse,_ she thought in reply.  _It’s not the right time._

“Who do you think you are?!  I created you!  And I am commanding you to end the filthy Saiyan’s life NOW!”  The voice yelled at her.  Almost giving into the voice, she reached her right hand down and began opening her messenger bag.  Inside her bag there was a silenced pistol, two kunai knives, a hypodermic needle filled with a clear fluid, and a black garrote.  Conclusion: she was an assassin.  As she was about to pull out the hypodermic needle, she heard the teacher call her name.  “Macey?”  Mrs. Satoko called out, making her drop the needle back inside the bag with all of her other weapons.  “Here!”  She called out.

“So, Macey is it?”  Gohan asked quietly with a smile as he slowly leaned back over to her.  “I like that name.”  Yes, her name was Macey.  At least that’s what everyone was supposed to think.

As math ended – the first class of the day, Macey quickly gathered her books and her bag, and made a quick escape for the classroom door. 

“Hey!  Wait up!”  A guy’s voice yelled from behind her as she was walking out.  She turned around to see that it was Gohan.  No.  Please stay away, she thought as she turned back around and continued to walk out the door, but her thoughts had no effect on him as he continued to call for her and run towards her. 

“Hey!  Would you stop for a minute?”  Gohan continued to call as she headed down the hallway and into the library.  After he saw her go into the library, he went in behind her.  She found a table in the back of the library, close to the window, where no students were.  She sat down, put her bag closest to the wall next to the window, and stacked her textbooks on the table.  However, her few seconds of isolation were interrupted by the boy chasing after her.  “Finally,” he said with a sigh.  “Sheesh, you’re a quick one!”  He chuckled, but was then shushed by the librarian sitting at the front entrance of the library.  Macey cracked her math book open and looked over her notes that she had taken, and Gohan sat across the table from her.  “We didn’t really get a chance to talk much last class, and from what I can see, we both have the same study period, so I was just wondering if -,” he began before he was cut off by Macey.

“What do you want?”  She said plainly as she stared at her book. 

“Kill him now!”  The voice in her head yelled.  “Now is the perfect chance!”  However, she seemed to ignore it.  She was good at ignoring the voice sometimes, and never made it obvious that she could hear it – at least not in public. 

“Well,” Gohan started, “I was wondering if you needed any help with the homework tonight?  I saw that you were struggling with the formulas.”  Gohan blushed as he asked her if she wanted his help; he obviously thought she was cute. 

“No,” she said plainly as she continued to look into her book. 

“Well, do you mind if I sit here with you for study hall?”  He asked.

“Do what you want,” she said.  I’m supposed to assassinate this guy, and he’s just sitting right in front of me, she thought.  He doesn’t realize how close to death he is.  I could take my needle out, inject him with it under the table, and he’d never know what hit him.

 “So then do it already!”  The voice inside her head yelled.  No.  It’s still too soon!  She yelled in her head in reply. 

            Across the library stood a group of two girls and a guy.  One of them had short, black hair and wore an oversized white t-shirt with the Orange Star High School badge that all the students had to wear, black shorts that came a few inches above her knees, black gloves, and green boots with purple socks.  The other girl had short blonde hair, wore a striped green tube top, and purple pants.  And lastly, a guy, who appeared to be a jock was with them.  He had long blond hair, wore a purple tank top, and had black workout pants on. 

“I can’t stand her,” the girl with the black hair said as she crossed her arms with an angry expression.  “Just look at her.  She’s totally trying to take Gohan.  She’s only been here one day.  What’s her deal?”

“You broke up with Gohan.  Remember, Videl?”  The girl with the blonde hair reminded her.

“Yeah, Erasa’s right,” the guy added.  “So what if the guy has a new girl?”

“Shut it, Sharpner,” Videl retorted.  “I bet I could totally beat her.  If she wants to fight over him, then fine.”  As Videl started to walk over to Macey and Gohan, her two friends tried to pull her away, but it was to no avail.  She pulled away from them and they watched her walk up to the table where the two sat. 

“Hey,” she said bluntly.

“Oh, hey, Videl,” Gohan replied.  “What’s up?”

“Don’t talk to me like I don’t know what’s going on over here,” she replied, obviously angry as she put her hands on her hips.  “I’m not stupid, Gohan.  I know what’s going on between the two of you.”

What is this girl on about?  Macey wondered.  Is this his girlfriend?

 “I didn’t ask your boyfriend to sit here if that’s what you’re so upset about,” Macey said unenthused to the pissed off girl as she continued to look at her book. 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Videl replied sternly.

“Huh?”  Macey said, sounding curious as she looked up from her book for the first time. “Then why do you care where he sits?”

“What?!”  Videl replied, sounding offended.  “I don’t care where he sits!  I care about who he sits with!  I hear it’s your first day here, so I’ll let you off with a warning – don’t try anything with Gohan or I’ll knock you out.  Understand?!”  Macey couldn’t help but have a little smirk come across her face – the first one that had appeared since she first stepped foot in the school.  I quite like her threat to knock me out, Macey thought. 

“Videl, calm down,” Gohan pleaded with her.  “She hasn’t done anything.”

“Tell you what, Videl,” Macey said as she kept her smirk on her face.  “If you can land a single hit on me, I’ll get up and move and you’ll never hear from me again.  I’ll even turn my face back to my book, so I can’t see you.” 

Is this girl crazy?!  Gohan thought as Macey looked back to her book.  Does she not know who Videl is?  She could really hurt her!  “Videl, don’t do-,” Gohan began before he was cut off by Videl throwing a right hook to Macey’s turned face.  However, to his and Videl’s surprise, her right hook was caught by Macey’s left hand as she continued to flip through her book with her right – not once looking up to Videl. 

“What the?”  Videl questioned as she tried to free her wrist from Macey’s grip. 

“Is that really the best you can do?”  Macey asked in a bored, flat tone as she looked up to Videl, still holding her wrist in her left hand. 

Woah, Gohan thought, completely in shock.  Videl’s punches are nearly impossible to catch.  She must have moved fast because I didn’t even see it.  As Videl continued to squirm and struggle to get her wrist free, Macey’s grip tightened with every move, and the smirk stayed on her face. 

“Gohan!”  Videl cried as she continued to try to get free.  “What is your girlfriend doing to me?!”  With Videl’s pleas snapping Gohan out of his amazement, he stood up for his ex-girlfriend. 

“Hey!  Let her go!”  Gohan yelled as he stood up and tried to pull Macey’s hand off Videl’s wrist.  Ultimately, with all the pressure from Macey’s grip on Videl’s wrist, and Gohan’s grip on Macey’s hand, Videl’s wrist ended up breaking.  As they heard the crack, Macey’s smirk immediately vanished, Gohan let go of Macey’s hand, and Macey’s hand let go of Videl’s wrist.  As Videl held her broken wrist, tears began to fill her eyes. 

“I don’t ever want to see or hear either of you again!”  She yelled as she ran back towards her friends. 

“Maybe I should go check on her,” Gohan suggested as he stood standing up and looked over to where Videl ran off to. 

“Didn’t you hear her?”  Macey said in her usual flat tone as she went back to her book.  “She said she didn’t want to see or hear either of us again,” she reminded him, “and as far as I’m concerned, it was her fault for picking a fight for no reason.”

“I guess you’re right,” Gohan said as he sat back down.  “After all, she’s a tough girl – she can take it.”  Instead of going back to his book, he watched Macey silently for a couple of seconds, and wondered how she moved so quickly. 

“You know, I can feel when you’re staring at me,” she said as she continued to look down at her book. 

“How did you do that?”  Gohan asked, bluntly.

“Do what?  I merely caught her punch,” Macey replied nonchalantly.

“Videl has one of the fastest punches I’ve ever seen – even I have trouble catching it sometimes,” Gohan confessed.

“Oh yeah?  You say that like you shouldn’t have trouble catching it,” Macey said as she finally looked up and looked at Gohan.

Gohan let out a slight chuckle and rubbed the back of his head.  “Well…I shouldn’t,” he admitted.  “I’m much stronger than she is.”

“She didn’t seem that strong,” Macey said as she crossed her arms and sat back in her chair.

“You still didn’t tell me how you caught it so quickly, without even looking up from your book,” Gohan reminded her as he changed the subject. 

“Yeah, well.  That’s my little secret,” Macey replied as she went back to her book.  “You don’t need to worry about it.”

“But I am going to worry about it!”  Gohan exclaimed before being shushed by the librarian again.  “I wanna learn how you did that, so I can become faster,” he whispered.

Macey scoffed.  “You want me to train you?”

“I’d be really grateful if you could take the time to.  I, myself know a few things too.  We could make it a trade.  I’ll teach you what I know, if you teach me how to be quick like you are,” Gohan proposed.  This proposal caught Macey’s attention and she immediately looked up from her book.  He’s a Saiyan, she remembered.  Saiyans are the strongest warrior race.  Maybe I shouldn’t carry out my mission quite yet. 

“No!”  The voice in her head screamed as the thoughts of taking Gohan up on his offer swam around in her head.  “You must KILL the dirty Saiyans!  Not learn from them!”

Shut up! She thought.  This is my opportunity to become even stronger!  “You, sir, have yourself a deal,” she said as she reached out and shook Gohan’s hand.

“You are a pathetic excuse for an assassin!”  The voice yelled at her, but she decided to ignore it rather than argue back.  This will work perfectly, she thought with a slight smile.  I’ll learn everything he knows, and in the end, I’ll use it against him, his Saiyan family, and his Saiyan friends.  What’s that old saying?  “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”?

            As Gohan and Macey sat across the table for a few more minutes, helping each other with their math homework, they almost didn’t realize that they had two minutes before their next classes started. 

“Oh wow!”  Gohan exclaimed as he stood up and gathered his things.  “We must have gotten carried away!  We have two minutes before our next classes start!”  Macey closed her math book, stacked her books back on top of each other with her schedule on top, put her messenger bag over her right shoulder, and scooped her books up into her arms.  “What class do you have next?”  Gohan asked as they began walking out of the library.  “Maybe I can help you find it.”

Macey stopped in the doorway and looked down at her schedule. 

“Umm.  History.  Mr. Hoshi.  Room 310,” she told him.

“Hey!  That’s exactly where I’m going!”  Gohan exclaimed, sounding excited.  “Man, what are the odds, huh?”  He chuckled.

Yes.  What are the odds?  She thought as she followed Gohan up the stairs. 

“You know, it might be easier if you carried your books in your bag,” Gohan chuckled.  “After all, that’s what they’re for.”  Macey didn’t say anything in reply, rather she just flashed a short, toothless smile.  As they got up the stairs he led them down to the right hallway, and then to the third to last door on the right hand side. 

“Here we are,” Gohan said as they approached the room, “with a minute left to spare.”  Gohan reached out and turned the doorknob, and the two of them walked into the room.  The other students who had formed their own little social circles, looked towards the door as Macey and Gohan entered, but then soon turned their attention back to their groups. 

“It’s not like you to almost be late, Gohan,” Mr. Hoshi said as Gohan closed the door behind them.

“Sorry,” Gohan replied as he and Macey walked up to his desk.  “Macey and I got caught up in the library.”

“Oh?”  Mr. Hoshi said as he looked toward Macey.  “You must be the new student.”

“Yes, sir,” Macey said quietly as she handed him her schedule.  After Mr. Hoshi wrote her name down in his gradebook and handed her schedule back, he informed her that the students in class worked in groups.  Great, just what I wanted, Macey sarcastically thought.

“Tell you what, since you and Gohan seem to already be acquainted, you can join his group.”  Mr. Hoshi suggest with a smile.  “His group just lost a member, so it should work out perfectly!”

Maybe this is what I wanted, Macey told herself.  “Sounds great,” she said with a smile.  Macey and Gohan began walking towards their group, and as they did, she realized that each group had four members in it. 

“Looks like Videl dropped this class,” Gohan pointed out as they come up on the group of three sitting in the back. 

“Huh.  Looks like,” Macey reiterated with a smirk.

            After Gohan introduced Macey to the group, she sat down with them.  All throughout the class, Gohan would catch himself looking up and gawking at Macey, who was sitting across from him.  Meanwhile, Macey sat there silently and tried to come up with different strategies to carry out her mission as she scribbled down notes.  When class was over, Gohan asked Macey if she wanted to join him and his friends at lunch, but she declined – saying that she had to do some studying in the library.  As Gohan walked down the stairs with his friends to the cafeteria, Macey walked down the hallway of the third floor, and walked into the library.  She walked to the very back of the room and sat at the table that was in the corner, closest to the window.

            “You, idiot!”  The voice in her head screamed as she sat down and opened up her history book.  “That was your chance!”

Not yet, she thought in reply.  It’s still too soon.  I’m not finished with him yet.

“You could have gone with him and dosed his food with the Reaper!”  The voice continued.

 

**The Reaper**

noun

  1. A clear, liquid drug that causes instantaneous death to anyone who is injected with it or ingests it via food or drink regardless of race, species, or altered DNA.



Synonyms: The Grim Reaper

 

            The Reaper was the liquid that Macey kept in her needles – the needle she almost used on Gohan earlier in the day.  No.  That would have been too obvious, she thought as she looked at the notes she scribbled down in History class.  I have to find the perfect moment.

            “Hey,” a familiar voice said sternly as Macey looked at her book.

“Aren’t you kind of going against your whole ‘I don’t ever want to see or hear you ever again’ thing, Videl?”  She replied, sounding uninterested without even looking up from her book. 

“We need to talk about Gohan,” she demanded, completely ignoring the smart ass question.

“What about him?”  Macey sighed as she continued to look at her notes.

“Oh my God!  Would you at least look up at me, so I know you’re listening?!”  Videl angrily requested. 

“In order for me to look at you, I would have to care about what you’re saying,” Macey replied back in her usual bored tone. 

“Okay, fine.  Whatever,” Videl said through her gritted teeth.  “Look.  Gohan and I may not be together anymore, but he still means a lot to me, so I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to get with him.”

Get with him?  Macey thought as she fought to hold back her laughter.  I’m on a mission to assassinate him, his Saiyan friends, and his Saiyan family.  After a few seconds, Macey began to quietly chuckle, but then her quiet chuckles turned into uncontrollable laughter. 

“Oh wow, Videl!”  She exclaimed through her laughter as she titled her head back.  “That’s freaking hilarious!”

“What’s so funny?!”  Videl questioned, sounding offended.  Macey sat back up in her chair, got her laughter somewhat under control, and for the first time she looked at Videl.

“You are,” she said before chuckling again.  “‘I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to get with him’,” she mocked Videl before busting out laughing again.

“I’m serious!”  Videl yelled.  “If I find out that you’re trying anything with him, I’ll make sure to teach you a lesson!”

“Nice cast,” Macey chuckled as she looked at the blue cast on Videl’s right wrist.  “Mind if I sign it?”  Videl’s face turned almost red from anger at Macey’s smart ass question, and she turned around without a word and stormed out of the library.

Conclusion: Videl didn’t like Macey.


	2. Chapter 2 - We Need to Talk

As 3:20 rolled around, the students at Orange Star High School were getting ready to go home in five minutes. Upstairs, on the fourth floor, Macey sat in room 428 – English with Mrs. Seto, and of course, Gohan sat right next to her – just like in all the other classes.  Gohan watched as she scribbled notes down in her textbook, and with each stroke of her pen, she became more and more graceful.  As five minutes came and went, the bell dismissing class rang.

“Don’t forget to do pages 132 – 140 tonight!  It will be due on Monday!”  Mrs. Seto yelled as all the students quickly got up from their desks and bolted for the door.  Taking her time, Macey threw her bag over her shoulder, and scooped up her books in her right arm without saying a word.  As she started down the top of the stairs of the auditorium shaped room, she heard Gohan calling out to her.

“Hey!  Wait up!”  He called out.  Macey ignored him, kept walking, and once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned to her right to walk out into the hallway, but Gohan quickly caught up to her.  “Hang on a second, will ya?”  He said as he came up beside her. 

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you,” she lied as they started their way down the stairs to go back down to the first floor.  “What do you want?”

“Well, I was going to see if you would like to work on our homework together,” he said shyly with a blush.

“Perfect!”  The voice yelled.  “There can’t be a more perfect chance!  Invite him over, and when you’re alone – strike!”

“No,” she said quietly in reply to Gohan as well as the voice.  “I have too much going on right now.”

“It’s alright,” Gohan chuckled, sounding almost relieved.  “I understand.  Do you mind if I at least walk you home?”

“You, idiot!”  The voice responded to her refusal.  “What is wrong with you?!”

“If you insist, I guess you can,” Macey replied in her usual tone.

“You can’t perform an assassination on a busy city street!  What are you thinking?!”  The voice screamed.

“Great,” Gohan said with a smile as they reached the first floor and headed towards the front doors.  “How far away do you live from here?”

“About two miles East of here on Main Street,” Macey casually replied.  “It’s an apartment building called “Oak Valley”.”

“Hey!  That’s right in the city!” Gohan exclaimed.  “There’s a really good ice cream shop on the way, if you wanted, to you know, get some ice cream?  My treat.”  He asked shyly.  Great, Gohan, he thought.  If she was too busy to do homework together, why would she want to get ice cream?

“No!  You don’t want to get stupid ice cream!”  The voice yelled at Macey.  “It’s too public!”

“Sure,” Macey replied to Gohan, catching him off guard.

“What…Really?” Gohan asked, sounding shocked.

“Yeah, why not?”  Macey shrugged, seeming to have forgotten what she told Gohan earlier, as the duo walked down the sidewalk that led into the city.

“Well, you said that you had a lot going on when I asked you if you wanted to do homework,” Gohan reminded her as he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.  “I wasn’t expecting you to agree to ice cream.  Come to think of it, I wasn’t expecting myself to ask.”

Damn, he’s right.  What the hell am I thinking? She thought to herself.  “Well, honestly,” she began, “in order for me to be able to focus enough to do homework, I need to be in a nonpublic place – like my house or something.  I just met you, so I don’t feel comfortable being isolated with a guy I just met.”

“Oh, I see,” Gohan understood with a smile.  “I completely understand.”

Sounds believable, she thought as she let out a subtle sigh.  After a few more minutes of walking and having small talk, the two finally came up on the ice cream shop.

“Here we are!”  Gohan excitedly exclaimed as they stopped in front.  The ice cream shop, which was named “The Frozen Spoon”, was a small, blue, one-story building. 

Outside, it had white tables with yellow chairs and small yellow umbrellas on top of the tables.  The inside’s set up was almost exactly the same except there were no umbrellas, and there were yellow and white booths on the walls, while the center had tables and chairs.  As they walked in, Macey could smell the sweet aroma of all the different ice cream flavors.  As she looked around, she noticed only three other people at a booth and one worker behind the counter.  The counter had two tiers and was made of glass.  Inside, it housed sixty different flavors, according to Gohan – thirty on the bottom tier and thirty on the top tier.

“Where would you like to sit?”  Gohan asked as he opened the door for the two of them to walk inside.  As Macey looked around at the wide array of options, her attention was drawn to the front right corner by the window.

“There,” she said as she pointed to the empty booth in the corner.  Gohan happily agreed and the two of them walked over to the booth.  Macey sat on the side against the wall, facing the door, and as she sat down, she sat her books and her bag down to her left – with her bag closest to the window. Gohan sat his backpack on the seat, unzipped it, and began looking for his wallet.  As Gohan was fishing for his wallet, Macey noticed a half-full water bottle sitting in his bag.

“Right there!”  The voice yelled.  “Maybe you haven’t screwed up completely!”

There’s no way for me to get to it without being noticed – let alone drug it, she thought in reply.  Even with my speed, I’d still draw attention.

“Well then you shouldn’t have been such an idiot!  You should have had him taken care of the moment you met him!”  The voice yelled again.

Yes.  A dead body sitting in the back of the class with the new girl nowhere to be found.  Perfect time, she sarcastically thought.  You really are an idiot.  Shut up and be patient.  I’ll get the job done.

“Ah.  Here it is,” Gohan stated as he pulled the wallet out of his bag.  “What would you like?”  He asked with a smile.

“Umm, do they have vanilla with chocolate sprinkles?”  She asked quietly.

“Of course they do,” Gohan smiled.  “They have everything.  Is that all you want?”

“Yes, thank you,” Macey nodded.  “Hey, do you mind if I have some of that water in your bag?  My mouth feels like a desert.”

“Sure, no problem!”  Gohan happily agreed to her request.  He opened his backpack back up, reached in, and grabbed the water bottle.  “There’s not too much in it, but you can have what’s there.”

“Thank you,” Macey replied with a small, toothless smile as she grabbed the water bottle from Gohan.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her before he turned to walk towards the counter.

“Perfect!  Drink some of the water, and then put a little bit of The Reaper in it before you hand it back!”  The voice yelled.  Macey took a sip of the water and reached for her bag full of weapons.  As she grabbed onto one of her needles full of the deadly drug, she continued to look at the water bottle.  “YES!  THERE YOU GO!”  The voice yelled.  As she looked up to make sure that Gohan was still at the counter, she began to pull the needle out of her bag and bring it towards the bottle.  But then, out of nowhere, she dropped the needle back in her bag and chugged all the water that was in the bottle. “NO!”  The voice yelled.  “YOU IDIOT!”

“Oops,” she said silently to herself.  She put the cap back on the water now completely empty bottle, and set it back on Gohan’s side of the table. A few seconds later, after being berated and cursed at by the voice in her head, Gohan came walking back with their two ice creams. 

“Here you go,” Gohan happily said with a smile as he set her cup of two scoops of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sprinkles in front of her.

“Thanks,” she said as she flashed a small smile.  “I may have accidently drank all your water,” she said as she looked at the ice cream in front of her.

“That’s alright.  I told you could have it,” Gohan chuckled as he got up, and threw the now empty bottle away.  “So,” he began as he sat back down.  “I don’t feel like we really know each other all that well.”

“Because we don’t,” she said in her usual nonchalant tone.

“Well, I would like to get to know you a little bit if that’s alright with you,” Gohan said as he looked at Macey who was staring down at her ice cream.

“What do you want to know?”  She asked as she ate a bite of her dessert.

“Hmm,” Gohan wondered, “I guess I’d like to know how old you are.”

“Fifteen,” she answered plainly.

“Fifteen?”  Gohan questioned.  “Then how are you in the senior classes?”

“Advanced placement.  I skipped first and second grade,” she explained as she continued to look at her frozen treat.

“Wow,” Gohan said, sounding shocked.  “My mother would love you,” he chuckled.

I highly doubt that – especially when I carry out my mission, she thought.

“If you even do it!”  The voice screamed at her.

“Well, hopefully I’ll get to meet her,” Macey replied.

“Definitely,” Gohan nodded.  “So where are you from?”

“You’ve probably never heard of it, but it’s a small town called Beachcastle.  It’s on the other side of the world on an unknown continent called Plafes, in a country called Asmar,” Macey answered.

“You’re right,” Gohan chuckled.  “I never have heard of it.”

“The entire continent is about the size of East City,” she said, using it as a comparison.

“Wow, that is small,” Gohan agreed.  As the two sat and ate their ice cream, Gohan learned more about Macey, and in return, Macey learned more about Gohan – he even went as far to make her laugh a time or two.  Conclusion: Macey was beginning to like Gohan.  I can’t like him, Macey thought to herself.  He’s my target.  I’m supposed to assassinate him, not date him.  However, throughout their small ice cream date, Macey couldn’t help but to laugh at the dumb jokes he made and smile whenever he complemented her.

            “So.  Oak Valley Apartments wasn’t it?”  Gohan asked as he collected their empty ice cream cups.

“Yes,” she confirmed as she stood up and gathered her things.  After they both gathered their belongings, they headed for the door, and Gohan threw their empty cups away.  As they exited, Gohan offered to carry Macey’s books, but she refused the kind gesture.  A few minutes later they came up on a tall, extravagant apartment building with the words “Oak Valley” written on a sign out front. 

“Here we are,” Gohan said as they stood in front of it.  “Would you like me to walk you up to your apartment?”

“No, thanks,” she declined.  “I like the quiet walk by myself.”

“Well, ok then,” Gohan said, sounding understanding.  “I had a great time hanging out with you.  I can’t wait to start our training,” he smiled.

“Yeah, same here,” she agreed.  “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Hmm,” Gohan pondered.  “Tomorrow…Oh yeah!  Tomorrow I’m taking Videl her things back to her, and then I’m training with my dad.  Do you want to join us?”  Gohan asked.

His dad?  One of the other Saiyans I have to take out, Macey thought.

“How stupid!  He’s just handing you another one of your targets!” The voice laughed.

“Sure,” Macey nodded.

“Sweet!”  Gohan exclaimed excitedly.  “I’ll meet you out here tomorrow at 2 PM.  Does that work?”

“Perfect,” she confirmed.

As Gohan and Macey were finishing up making their plans, a group of three guys across the street called out for Gohan.  When he heard them call he realized that they were friends of his and he quickly finished saying goodbye to Macey and then ran off towards the group.

Of course he would be heading that way, Macey thought as he watched Gohan and his group of friends walk away.  Transparency, she thought as she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

 

**Transparency**

noun.

  1. An ability possessed by all assassins that allows them and any object on their person to become completely clear so that they cannot be seen as they move. User can only be seen by other assassins who have the ability activated. 



 

 **Weaknesses:** User can be felt when run into, heard when not quiet, and harmed with weapons if hit.

 **Activated:** Because Transparency is an ability that alters what people see, the assassin who wishes to use the ability must close his/her eyes, focus his/her inner energy towards the outside of the eyes, and focus his/her mind on the energy that’s being moved to the outside.

 **Deactivated:** User is taken out of Transparency if he/she loses focus on the energy that was moved out.

 

There we go, she thought as she activated the innate ability.  She began walking and soon came up behind Gohan and his group. 

“Perfect chance!  Do it now!”  The voice yelled as she walked behind Gohan.  “No one saw you change, and no one will see you when you inject that filthy Saiyan with The Reaper!” 

No, she thought in reply.  He’s a Saiyan.  The moment he feels something being injected into his back, he’ll instinctually turn around and fire an energy blast at me and probably end up killing me in the process – if not that, then he and his friends will definitely expose me.

 

 **Assassin Rule #1.)** Never be seen by your target or anyone else during an assassination.  Do everything in your power to remain undetected.

 

            A few seconds later, Macey walked right past Gohan and his group of friends.

“She’s just so…different,” Macey overheard Gohan saying to his friends.

Is he talking about me?  She wondered.  Due to her growing curiosity, she went ahead of the group, walked into the opening of an alleyway so no one would run into her, and watched and listened to Gohan and his friends as they walked by.

“No, it’s a good thing,” Gohan responded to one of his friends.  “She’s a lot different from Videl.  A good different.”  Macey couldn’t help but flash a small smile even though she knew no one could see it.  Once she made sure the coast was clear, she started down the sidewalk again.  This time, as she walked by Gohan’s group, they had changed the subject to school.  Instead of stopping to listen to their chatter about school, she decided to go on ahead of them.  As she walked to the end of Main Street, she turned left on Justice Avenue, and then a few blocks down, she turned right onto Willow Street.  About 200 yards down, was a small alleyway on the left hand side, and as Macey turned down it, a row full of warehouses came into her view.  She turned right and began to walk past the warehouses, but finally stopped at the one on the end.  Number 15.  Once she looked around to make sure there was no one there – which there never was – she closed her eyes, took a deep breath in, and deactivated her Transparency.  After she deactivated her ability, she reached into her right hand pocket, pulled out a key, and opened the door to the warehouse. 

“Home sweet home,” she said to herself as she walked through the door.  Inside the small warehouse was a makeshift studio apartment.  The floor that was all marble had a giant light blue area rug in the center of the open living room.  On the left wall was a tan futon that Macey slept on along with two dark brown nightstands on either side with small lamps with white lampshades on them, and a dark brown coffee table that sat in front of it.  On the futon were three pillows and two blankets – one giant light blue comforter, and one small white throw blanket.  On the right wall was a giant mirror, a dark brown dresser, and a flat screen television with a tan entertainment center.  In the right hand corner, on the opposite side of the door, was a small room that had a bathroom in it that had a white shower, toilet, and sink that was attached to the wall with a small mirror above it.  Straight to the back of the warehouse was the kitchen.  In the kitchen, there were brown counters, starting in the corner and going all along the back wall until they met with the pantry in the far right corner.  The first counter had a microwave on top of it, along with utensils for eating and cooking in the drawer.  On the counter next to that one, there was a cutting board used for food preparation and in the drawers were plates, bowls, and cups.  Next, was the silver refrigerator.  Then, there was a counter with the silver sink in it.  Next to the sink was the silver oven and stove with a small smoke chimney above it.  And finally, on the end, and closest to the pantry, there was the counter with the coffee machine on it and the dishwasher underneath it.  On the ceiling in the center of the living room was a giant fan that was used to provide air conditioning and light.  Conclusion: Macey didn’t live at the Oak Valley Apartments.

            Damn, it’s hot in here.  I should have left the fan on, Macey thought as she let out a sigh and flipped the light switch to turn the light on and the fan switch to turn the fan on.  As the light and fan came on, she closed the door behind her and locked it.  Afterwards, she walked into the open room and set her bag down on the floor by her futon on the side closest to the door and set her textbooks on the coffee table. 

“Time to get out of these uncomfortable clothes,” she said to herself as she walked over to the dresser on the other side of the room.  She opened up the top left drawer and pulled out an oversized gray t-shirt, and then she took a pair of running shorts out of the top right drawer.  “Much better,” she sighed as she finished changing and put her hair up in a bun.  Afterwards, she made her way to the kitchen and made a bowl of cereal before heading over to the futon.  As she sat down, she set her bowl of cereal on the coffee table in front of her and looked at the books.  After a few seconds of debating with herself if she wanted to do the homework, she finally decided that she was going to.

            “You are either the most sadistic assassin or the worst.  Are you trying to get him to fall in love with you and then carry out the assassinations?  Or have you forgotten how to do your job?” A man’s voice coming from the bathroom area said a few seconds after she started on her homework.  The man was of medium build had long black hair, black eyes, and wore the standard assassin getup – a black long sleeve spandex turtleneck shirt, black spandex pants, and a black half face mask.  On his upper thighs were twin daggers with red handles, around his waist was a red belt with two straps on his right leg that were used to hold extra kunai knives or other weapons, and on his feet were black boots with straps.

 

 **Assassin Clothing Rule #1.)** Every assassin from every family/guild must wear the standard black underclothing – black long sleeve spandex turtleneck shirt (females must wear a black, long sleeve spandex turtleneck shirt with built in gloves), black spandex pants, and a black half face mask.  However, each rank has its own color combination for armor (only worn in battle), weapons (used in battle and in assassinations), and boots (worn in battle and in assassinations).

Rank 1 (0-10 years of experience): Black and White

Rank 2 (11-20 years of experience): Black and Gray

Rank 3 (21-30 years of experience): Black and Red

Rank 4 (31-40+ years of experience): Black and Gold

 

“You know,” Macey said as she continued to write, “it’s customary that you knock before entering someone’s house.”

“We need to talk,” the man said sternly as he walked out of the bathroom and stood on the other side of the coffee table.

“I really don’t have time to talk,” Macey said, still writing.  “I have a test next week.”

“What do you think you’re doing?”  The man asked.

“Doing homework and eating cereal, duh,” she scoffed.  “Hey, what year was Abraham Lincoln assassinated in?”

“Cut the crap,” he scolded, grabbing her attention.  “I’ll ask you again.  What are you doing?”  He retorted as Macey sat up, looked at him, and crossed her arms.

“I’ve already told you.  I’m sitting here eating-,” she began before being cut off.

“You are on a mission,” he harshly reminded her.  “Yet, here you are sitting in your pajamas, eating cereal, and doing homework for a school that you’re not technically enrolled in.  Why haven’t you carried out the mission?”

She scoffed.  “I haven’t had a chance to do it yet,” she told him.

“Liar,” he countered.  “You’ve had four perfectly good opportunities, but you let each one of them escape.”

“You’ve been watching me,” she pointed out, sounding offended.

“Yes,” he admitted.  “You could have had one of the half-breeds in that first class, in the library, at the stupid ice cream shop, and when you were walking behind him and his group of friends, so you can’t sit there and tell me that you haven’t had a chance – you’ve had multiple.”

“Fine,” she said sternly.  “You and I both know why I haven’t done it yet,” she told him.

“Seriously?”  He scoffed.  “You’re still on this whole “rebellion” thing?  Grow up already.”

“I didn’t earn this mission,” she stated.  “It was handed to me when I didn’t even have another active contract.”

 

Assassin Rule #2.)  Assassins must compete against each other for contracts.  Each assassin must compete for at least one contract per month, but can have no more than two active contracts at the same time.  If an assassin does not win a contract by the end of a month, they will be sent for more training.  Assassins of the same family/guild cannot fight against each other.  If an assassin goes a month without completing one contract, they will be handed another one without having to compete as well as an extra month.  If at the end of two months neither contract is completed, the assassin will be executed.  If the original contract goes six months without being completed while the add-ons are, the assassin will lose the original contract, and it will go back into the pile of open contracts, and another assassin will have to compete for it.  No assassin can compete for the same contract more than three times.  In the extremely rare case that every assassin fails at a contract, and have all used up their three attempts of attaining it, it will be given to the Queen – the leader of the assassins.

 

“So this is about your pride?”  He questioned her, sounding aggravated.  “You know exactly why this mission was “handed” to you.  This mission is the reason you came into existence – what you’ve been training for your whole life.”

“You don’t think I know that?”  She counter-questioned. 

“I think you’ve forgotten what you are,” he replied, sounding disappointed.  “Tell me, is the voice getting harder to ignore?”

Macey went silent for a few seconds and looked away from the man standing in front of her.  “I don’t see why that is any of your concern,” she finally quietly said.

“I’m going to go ahead and take that as a ‘yes’,” he replied as Macey still had her head turned from him.  “You have five targets and one month.  Get the job done.  Oh, and get rid of that stupid hair and eye color.  See you later, “Macey Evans”.”

Before Macey had time to reply, he had gone transparent and had already walked out of the front door – slamming it behind him. 

“See you later…brother,” she said quietly to herself as she went back to doing her homework and eating her cereal.


	3. Chapter 3 - Just an Early Morning Workout

“Here,” a man’s voice said as he slammed a folder down on the coffee table in front of Macey.  The abruptness of the action pulled her out of a sleep that she didn’t remember falling into. 

“What the hell?” She said as she sat up on her elbow and yawned before looking up to see her brother from earlier standing in front of the coffee table again.  As she sat up and crisscrossed her legs, she saw the black folder sitting in front of her.  “What’s this?”  She asked as she leaned forward to look at it. 

“New contract,” he said bluntly.

“It hasn’t been a month yet, Kaiser” she informed him.  “Why am I getting add-ons?”

“Add-on,” he corrected her, “and because I personally talked to the Queen and told her how you needed more training.  She gave me this to give you.”

“I don’t need more training,” she said under her breath as she got up from the couch and walked towards the kitchen, leaving her brother still standing there.

“It appears that you do,” he countered, “you’ve gone soft.”

As she entered the kitchen area, she looked at the time on the microwave.

“It’s 2 AM?!”  She exclaimed.  “Why the hell are you waking me up at 2 AM?!”

“If you had been doing your job, you would have already been awake,” he reminded her.

            While her brother when on and on about how she had forgotten what her job was and that she had gone soft, Macey walked over to drawer with the silverware in it, grabbed a red coffee cup, and walked over to the coffee machine to make a cup of coffee.  Once she was finished putting her cream and sugar in in it, she walked back to the futon and sat back down. 

“What’s the mission?”  She asked, sounding tired.

“Target’s name is Rayne Muto,” he began to explain as she flipped open the file to look at the contract.  “She’s a very well-known fashion designer and foster parent; however, what people don’t know is that she fosters the children so that she can have free labor in putting her designs together.  The children, who are aged five to nine, are forced to work in cramped rooms with no air conditioning and are only given a meal a day.”

“Why not just go to the police then?”  She asked as she closed the folder and took a sip of her coffee.

“Last year, she donated $2,000,000 to the police department – the biggest donation they’ve ever had, and so they’re-,”

“They’re not going to mess with their biggest investor,” Macey cut him off.  “Typical.  Who ordered it?”

“Six months ago, one of the nine-year-olds was thought to have died from malnutrition.  His body ended up on the side of the road, but after a few hours of lying unconscious, he got up and started to walk down the road.  He was later found by a couple who took him to the police station.  The police returned him to the orphanage that he’d been adopted from because at the time, he had no memory of where he came from, but later he remembered.  Two months ago, he was put back with his real family.  After he told his family about the incident, they filed a report to the police, and the police of course said that they couldn’t do anything.  A long distant relative of the boy works for C.I.A, so he of course knows about the assassins.  The relative, who is anonymous, is the one who ordered it.  According to the relative, the boy told him that the sweatshop is somewhere here in Satan City.  He wasn’t exactly sure where – only that it was somewhere downtown.  He said there was a large green building with words on it that was across the street.”

 

**Assassin Rule #3.)** The assassins are paid by and protected from criminal punishment by the C.I.A (Central Intelligence Agency).  All legal contracts must be given by either an on duty or off duty C.I.A agent to the Queen.  The Queen then has a month to assign the contract to an assassin.  If the contract goes a month without being assigned to an assassin, it will be taken back and burned.  Any contract that is not given through a C.I.A agent is considered illegal.  An illegal contract is a contract given by someone who is not a C.I.A agent or an assassin that carries out an assassination for their own reason.  The C.I.A will only protect an assassin that cannot be identified by a surviving victim or anyone else who can place them at the scene.  If the assassin who completes an illegal contract is caught, they will not be protected by the C.I.A.

 

 

“I still don’t see why I have to do it,” she said as she leaned back and stretched her arms over the back of the futon.

“As I said, you could use more training.  Anyways, you’re working an illegal contract right now and taking your time at it.  The C.I.A will eventually figure out that you’re working an illegal contract when they realize that they haven’t been seeing your name on any completed contracts.”

“Fine,” she sighed as she stretched.  “I’ll do it.”

“It wasn’t like you had a choice,” he said sternly as he walked towards the front door.  “And since this is being considered remedial training, you will have twelve hours to complete it – the same amount of time as a normal training course.”

Macey didn’t say anything in return, but instead glared at her brother with an unimpressed look.

“Oh, and I thought I told you to get rid of that stupid hair and eye color?” he reminded her.

Again, she didn’t say anything as she kept the same look on her face.  A few seconds later, her brother turned transparent and walked out the front door, closing it behind him softer than yesterday. 

“Remedial training,” she scoffed as she went back to drinking her coffee.  She grabbed the remote that was sitting on the coffee table and turned the television on.  “I don’t need remedial training.”

“Apparently you do since you can’t seem to assassinate a target who practically threw himself onto your dagger multiple times!”  The voice yelled.

Not now, it’s too early for this, she thought as she took a deep breath in and closed her eyes.

            After finishing her coffee and eating some cereal and fruit for breakfast, Macey walked into the bathroom and hopped in the shower.  As the hot water ran down her body, she couldn’t help but wonder if her brother was right about her.  Am I just being childish?  She wondered.  Perhaps I should just go ahead and clear my contracts up.  Easier said than done, I suppose – especially when the targets don’t seem to be bad people.  Maybe Kaiser was right – maybe I have forgotten what I am.  After throwing her thoughts around, she turned off the shower, threw her towel around her, got out, and wiped the fog off the small mirror to look at her reflection. 

“Kaiser was right,” she chuckled.  “Purple is a dumb color.”  She tied her hair back into a bun with the hair tie that she always kept around her wrist and put her hands on top of her head.  Color Manipulation, black, she thought as she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes.  When she opened the up again and looked in the mirror, she saw that her hair and eyes had been reverted to their natural color.

 

**Color Manipulation**

noun.

 

  1. An ability possessed by all assassins that allows them to change their hair and eye color to any color of their choice. 



**Activated:** The user must place his/her hands on top of their head, close their eyes, take a deep breath in, gather enough energy in between their hands and their head, and focus on the color that they want their hair and eyes to become.

**Deactivated** : Color Manipulation can never be deactivated – the color can only be changed.

 

“There,” she said to herself as she looked in the mirror.  “Good old boring, plain, natural look.”

She walked out of the bathroom and over to the dresser where she pulled out her standard assassin getup from the bottom left drawer.  As she put her shirt, mask, belt with leg straps, her lower arm straps with two small bags on both sides, and pants on the top of the dresser, she revealed her black boots with gray straps, and she took them out and sat them next to the dresser.  In the drawer above that one – the middle left drawer – she took out a clean sports bra, underwear, and black tall socks.  Once she finished getting dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror above the dresser and had a smirk come across her face.  Then, she knelt back down and opened up the bottom right drawer – the drawer that contained what every assassin needs – weapons.  Inside the drawer were her two twin daggers that had a silver blades with gray handles, a container of hypodermic needles with The Reaper in them, a lock pick set, ten black arrows with gray tails inside of a black bag, and a bow with a black handle.  She pulled out the weapons one by one and attached the twin daggers on each side of her belt with the black belt buckle in between, filled the small bags on her arm straps with needles and a lock pick set, and threw her bow and arrow across her shoulder and onto her back.  Once she was ready, she looked at herself in the mirror once more and tied her hair back into a ponytail.

“Perfect,” she said quietly.  She jumped in place for a few seconds so her muscles could become limber enough to handle the strain that they would go through.  As she walked out of the door, she grabbed the warehouse key off of the nightstand closest to the door and held it in her left hand.  After she walked outside, she closed the door, locked it, and then stuck the key in one of the small bags on her right arm.

            No sense in using up my energy for no reason – it’s dark enough out here, she thought as she looked up to the dark sky.  Might as well stick to the buildings.  Deciding not to use her Transparency, she went ahead and jumped up on to the building across from the warehouse.

 

**Assassin Fact #1.)** Assassins who learn how to control their energy, can use it to make high jumps, and can also use it to help them glide through the air for a limited time.  The better control he/she has over their energy, the longer he/she can glide and the higher they can go.

**Activated:** Whenever an assassin focuses enough energy towards the bottom of their feet, they are able to cover high and long distances. 

**Deactivated:** Once the steady stream of energy to their feet subsides, they are brought back down; however, it can be reactivated quickly by refocusing the stream of energy to their feet and pushing off of a solid structure to regain height and distance.

**Strengths:** Can be helpful in covering long distances quick.

**Weaknesses:** It cannot be used at the same time as Transparency or any other visual effect because energy cannot be focused in two places at once; however, Transparency and other visual effects may be used once the assassin has landed.

 

Okay.  Green building – Downtown Satan City, she reminded herself as she knelt on the edge of the building she had jumped up on.  Let’s see.  Downtown is by the school which is to the West of my hideout.  I’m facing West, so I just need to go straight, she thought as she perched on the edge of the building to try to look for the identifying landmark.  “Time to get closer,” she said to herself quietly.  After she made sure that there were no cars on the dark, empty road, she leapt off of the building and glided to the next one which was a little lower.  With no luck in seeing the building, she continued to make her way West – jumping from building to building and making sure to turn Transparent as she landed in order to avoid security cameras and the occasional passing car.  By the time fifteen minutes of leaping and gliding went by, she still hadn’t found the building.

“Green building,” she said to herself as a large green building finally came into her view after many more minutes of jumping from building to building.  “And another…and another…and another…and…another,” she whispered as she saw five large green buildings within three blocks of each other – each with words on them.  “Lovely,” she whispered as she perched transparent on the edge of a close by office building with an annoyed look on her face.  Okay, she thought as she closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and let it out.  Step one – establish my location.  I’m facing directly West.  Step two – establish the locations of the buildings compared to my position.  There’s one North West, one directly West, two South West, and one to the South.  Step three – think of logical locations.  To keep a sweatshop full of kids under the radar, there can’t be many other buildings or populated areas nearby.  The two buildings South West are directly next to each other with one building separating them and are completely surrounded by other buildings – scratch those out.  Three options left.  The one to the South is right next to a police station – go ahead and cross that one off.  The West building has too many other buildings close by.  Finally, the North West building.  It’s sitting on a corner, with small shops surrounding it.  No buildings on the corner across the street of it – only a small park. 

“That one,” she said to herself before leaping off the building she was perched on and heading towards the North West building.

I guess she does remember how to be an assassin, her brother Kaiser thought.  A few buildings away from where Macey was perched, she didn’t notice her brother, who had been following her the entire time.  Once Macey got a few buildings ahead of him and close to the green building, he took off behind her.

            Okay, green building, Macey thought as she stood transparent in front of the green building.  Apparently, the kid saw the building from the across the street.  A kid can only see so far.  She knelt down to about the same height as a nine-year-old, turned her back towards the building, and scanned the area.  If I were a despicable, disgusting woman who kept children hostage to make my clothes, where would I keep them?  After scanning the area twice, on the third time, she saw where the children were most likely being held.  Really?  The basement of a sex shop?  She thought with a blank expression as she saw the tiny window on the bottom of the store called “Hush”.  Well, couldn’t have picked a better spot.  No one would expect kids to be in there.  I guess you have to give kudos on that part. 

Macey took a deep breath and rolled her eyes before starting across the street to the sex shop.  Lights are off, she thought as she looked in the windows.  Door is closed.  From the feel of it, there’s no deadbolt – just the door lock, she told herself as she twisted the door knob.  They might as well have left the door unlocked.  She reached into her top bag on her right arm strap and pulled out her lock pick set.  Almost as soon as she put the torque wrench part of the lock pick set into the keyhole, the door knob unlocked.  She looked at the pick that was still in her left hand and stood there silently as she stared at the door.  I should probably remind them to get a better lock, she thought.  She closed her eyes, let out an annoyed sigh, twisted the door open, and just as Macey expected, there was no security alarm.  Just asking to get robbed, I suppose.  Now, where is the basement entrance.  She closed the door behind her and began to quietly walk around the sex shop.  I’m going to kill Kaiser when this is done, she told herself.  This is humiliating. 

            When she walked towards the front counter, she noticed a painting that didn’t match the setup of the other paintings.  The other paintings around the store were set up evenly with one painting at each end of each wall and one in the middle.  However, the wall behind the counter only had the one painting in the middle.  After she walked behind the counter, she tampered with the out of place painting and discovered that it was glued to the wall.  She then took her dagger from her right leg, pried the painting off the wall, and looked at the dark tunnel that that led to the back of the store and then dropped down like a trash shoot.  If you’re gonna be a criminal, at least be a good one, she thought as she peered down into the dark hole.  I can’t fit in there with my bow on, she realized as she examined the hole.  She took her bow and bag of arrows off of her back and threw them down the dark tunnel, and seconds later, she jumped up into the tunnel, placed the painting back where she pried it off the wall, and began to make her way down to the end – pushing her bow and arrows down as she went.  As she quietly inched her way down the tunnel, she didn’t realize a broken piece of metal snag and tear on her spandex pants on the knee.  Just great, she thought as she rolled her eyes.  This is turning out to be annoying.  A few feet later, she was able to see the end of the tunnel and saw where it dropped down.  Why couldn’t I have been like a normal assassin and picked out a sword instead of a bow and arrow?  She asked herself as she looked down the hole and realized that she would have to throw her weapon in first.  Knowing my luck, there’s probably someone down there.  I don’t want to give them a weapon.  Still in her transparent state, she moved her bow and arrows behind her and slowly and quietly positioned herself upside down so that she could see into the small room below her. 

“Guess I was wrong for once,” she said as she concluded that there was no one in the room.  She pulled herself back up into the tunnel and gently lowered her bow and arrows into the room before quietly dropping herself down.  Once she landed, she strapped the weapon back on her back and undid her Transparency as she began to look around the room.  The small room, which was about the size of a full sized bathroom and was lit by a single hanging light, contained only a small cot against the left wall, a small nightstand next to the cot, a toilet in the back right corner, and a sink with a small mirror in the front right corner.  The walls were made of a dark colored brick, and the floors were made of dark, hardwood flooring.  On the wall behind Macey, there was a small window that she was able to peer out of.  This must be where the boy was held, she thought as she saw the green building across the street from her.  She walked over to the cot that was made up of a thin white mattress with blue stripes and only had a small blue throw blanket and one pillow with no pillow case.  Once she sat down on the cot, she noticed a drawer in the front of the small nightstand. 

“What’s this?”  She asked herself as she noticed a small red notebook inside the drawer.  Once she opened it up, she read what was written inside. 

 

**Name:** Kaii Goda

**Date of Birth:** September 2, 2007

**Worker Number:** 3250124

 

Due to Macey’s investment in the notebook written by the young boy, she didn’t realize when Kaiser dropped down into the room. 

“Don’t worry.  I cleaned up your bloody mess,” he said as he walked over towards his sister who had yet to look at him.

“Oh,” she said quietly as she looked down at her knee that had been cut by the scrap metal.  “Sorry.  I didn’t feel it.  Thank you.”

“What?  No smart ass remark?”  He asked, pretending to be shocked.  “What’s your problem?”

“Rayne Muto is my problem,” she answered with anger in her voice.  “The things she puts these kids through…It’s sickening.”  She closed the notebook and placed it back in the drawer.  “So, why are you here?”  She finally asked as she looked up to her brother for the first time.

“I’m supervising,” he said with a smirk. 

“Supervising?  First I get remedial training and now I’m being supervised?”  She asked, in a suspicious tone.

“We’re family,” he reminded her.  “I’m allow to supervise your training.”

“Just shut up and leave me alone.  I’ll take care of this quickly,” she said quietly with traces of anger still in her voice and determination in her eyes.

“I don’t get you,” Kaiser said as he watched her walk towards the makeshift bathroom.  “You’re doing everything you can not to assassinate the Saiyans, but you seem more determined than ever to finish this mission.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” she said as she began to quietly jump around.  After jumping around for a few seconds, she stopped in an area in front of the toilet.  She knelt down to the section of wood and began to pry at it with her dagger on her right leg.  Once she got the block of wood out, she noticed stairs that led to a lower room, and in the distance, she could hear faint cries from the children being held captive and sewing machines running.  In an instant, she put her dagger back on her leg, went transparent, and she quietly started down the stairs, and of course, Kaiser followed her.  Once she got to the bottom, she could see the rooms that they were being held in lining a long hallway that had an office type room at the end.  Each room appeared to be the size of a full sized bathroom.  The walls were made of the same dark brick as the room above them, and the floors were made of rock.  Each door was identical and they were made from steel and only had one small window at the top that Macey couldn’t even look into because they were so far up.  Kaiser, however, was able to peek inside one of the windows.  Inside, he saw a small cot identical to the one in the other room, a toilet, and in the center of the room was a table with a sewing machine, fabric, and a chair.  In the chair, a girl who appeared to be no older than seven was sewing together what looked like a dress.  Without saying a word, he turned his attention back forward and saw that a distance had grown between him and his sister.

            There must be something in that room, Macey thought as she headed towards the room at the end of the hallway.  The room at the end was the only room with an office type door.  Unlike the other doors, the door at the end of the hallway was made up of a nice, dark red mahogany and had a four pane window at the top of it with a silver door handle on the left side.  When she was almost to the door, it flung open and out walked a man wearing a dark blue polo with black dress pants and talking on a cell phone.  Macey quickly snuck quietly into the room before the door closed. 

Great, Kaiser thought sarcastically as he watched his sister sneak into the room from the other end of the hallway.  He knew that he wouldn’t be able to follow behind her because the man who had walked out of the room was now stationary right next to him to his right at the bottom of the stairs, facing the door that Macey had walked through, and he would notice if it flew open again.  Assassin rule number one: never be seen by your target or anyone else during an assassination.  Do everything in your power to remain undetected, Kaiser repeated the number one assassin rule in his head.  Guess I’m stuck here.  I hope she has a plan, there’s nothing I can do to help her right now.

            “Hmph,” Macey sighed as the door closed behind her after making sure there was no one in the small office.  “Why would he leave his office?”

Macey undid her Transparency in order to conserve her energy and walked over to the desk that sat in the center of the room.  The desk, which was made of a dark wood, was accompanied by a dark, black, leather chair.  On the desk were basic office supplies such as notepads, a calendar, pens, pencils, a landline phone, and a computer.  The walls were bare, brick, and had three smalls paintings.  On the left wall was a smaller desk that had a coffee maker, coffee cups, cream, and sugar on it.  On the right wall was a collection of metal filing cabinets stacked next to each other so that they took up a good portion of the wall.  Macey walked over to the desk, took her bow and bag of arrows off her back and set them on the floor to the right of the desk.  As she sat down in the chair, she tried to find any trace of her target’s whereabouts by looking through the calendars, notebooks, and drawers, but ultimately came up empty. 

“I wonder,” she said quietly as she remembered the guy who had been talking on the cell phone when he walked out of the room.  She got up from the desk, turned transparent again, and walked over to the window to see a sight that she thought was hilarious.  When she looked out of the window, she saw the man who had walked out of the room standing in front of the stairs that led back up to the previous room still talking on his cell phone, and her brother, Kaiser, standing completely still a few feet ahead of the man.

“Well, well,” she said to herself as she got back down from the window and undid her Transparency.  “Would you look at that?  Kaiser, the great assassin, who thought I need remedial training has gotten himself caught in a predicament,” she chuckled.  “I’m glad that man is still talking on the phone though.”

She walked back over to the desk, sat down at the chair, and threw her feet up onto the desk as if she were lounging.  A few seconds later, she had a small smirk come across her face, and she picked up the landline phone.  Just as she suspected, it was connected to the cell phone that the man was talking on.  How pitiful, she thought as she began to eavesdrop on the conversation.  Tapping your scumbag accomplice’s phone.

            “Yes, ma’am,” the man said. “I’m aware of the situation.  Don’t worry, everything is on lock down.”

“No one gets in and no one gets out.  Understand?”  The woman’s voice on the other end of the line said. 

That must be Rayne Muto, Macey thought as anger began to fill up in her.

“Someone’s onto us,” the woman’s voice continued.  “The painting was removed.”

“Yes, ma’am.  I’m aware,” the man replied.  “I’m keeping watch at the entry point until backup gets here.”

The painting was removed?  She pondered to herself.  I was sure that I placed it back where it was when I jumped in the tunnel.  Who could have…DAMMIT, KAISER!  Wait, how did they even know about the painting being removed?  Do they actually have a security camera?

“Good,” the woman replied.  “They should arrive in thirty minutes at the latest.  Once they arrive, you may resume organizing my company’s tax records.”

“Yes, ma’am.  I understand,” the man replied.  After his last reply, the other end of the line hung up and then he in return hung up.

            “So that’s what the computer is for, huh?”  Macey said as she hung up the phone and looked towards the computer.  “Trying to cover up your sick little scheme, huh?  Wouldn’t it be a shame if someone just hacked into your computer and deleted all of your bogus tax files?”  She chuckled as she scooted towards the computer, hacked into it, and deleted every trace of phony tax file.  “Oops,” she said sarcastically as she watched them delete permanently.  “My bad.”

For the next few minutes, with nothing to do but lie in wait, Macey searched the computer for any trace of security footage, and finally found what she was looking for.  “Haha,” she chuckled.  “It looks like a ghost is moving stuff.”  With the click of a button, she deleted all the security footage that captured her and Kaiser removing the painting.  Macey kept her feet propped up on the desk and looked at the ceiling above her as she swayed back and forth in the office chair.  “Thirty minutes,” she said to herself.  “What to do.”  Immediately, she glanced over to her right and saw the coffee bar sitting there begging to be used.  She got up from the chair, turned Transparent, made sure the man was still standing at the end of the hallway, and walked over to the coffee bar to make herself a cup of hot coffee.  After making it how she wanted it, she sat back down, undid her Transparency, put her legs back on the desk, held her bow in her right hand on top of the desk, and when she wasn’t taking a sip of her coffee, she had an arrow pulled back with her left hand. 

            After what seemed like an eternity, Macey heard voices at the other end of the hall where the man and Kaiser were standing.

“You can resume your work, Mr. Noda,” a new man’s voice said.  “Mr. Eto and I have it covered from here.”

Really?  Only two men for backup?  Macey thought to herself in disappointment.  Seconds later, she heard footsteps grow closer to the door that she was only a few feet behind.  Uh oh, she thought as she realized that she was still in her relaxed position.  “Oh well,” she shrugged when she realized that there was nothing she could do about it.  She set down her cup of coffee, drew her arrow back, and seconds later, the door crept open.

“Who the hell are you?!”  Mr. Noda yelled as he saw the relaxed assassin sitting behind his desk.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that you shouldn’t wear two dark colors on top of each other?  It’s really unflattering,” she said nonchalantly as she fired the arrow that she had pulled back.  Due to the speed that it was launched, Mr. Noda had no time to react, and less than a second later, he found himself with an arrow right between his eyes.

“What the hell?!”  The other two men at the end of the hallway yelled as they saw Mr. Noda’s body fall to the floor and noticed the relaxed assassin sitting behind the desk.  Before they were able to start towards her, Kaiser popped up behind the two of them still transparent, took his twin daggers, and quickly executed the two guards simultaneously with separate, single cuts from each dagger.  He quickly dropped his Transparency, gathered up the bodies and rushed them into the room where Macey was lounging – making sure to push Mr. Noda’s body in as well and closing the door behind him. 

“Good job!”  Kaiser said sarcastically as Macey jumped out from behind the desk and went to grab the cell phone from the pocket of Mr. Noda.  “You’ve successfully shattered rule number one, and three people who weren’t even targets are now dead.”

“A,” Macey began as she began to flip through the phone numbers in the phone “that rule is stupid.  They’re going to die anyways.  And B, they were just as evil.  Guilty by association as far as I’m concerned.”

“You can’t just go around doing things the way you want them to be done!”  Kaiser yelled at her. 

“Ah, here it is,” she said, completely ignoring her brother and holding the phone up to her ear.

“What are you doing now?!”  Kaiser yelled at her.

“Shh,” she said loudly, almost spitting in his face.  “Oh my gosh, Mrs. Muto!  You need to come quick!  There’s been a terrible accident!  Please!  Hurry!”  She yelled, acting frantic as the other line picked up.  “Okay, let’s go,” she said calmly to Kaiser as she dropped the cell phone in her half full coffee mug – killing it completely, and strapped her bow and arrows back on her back.  Realizing that it was useless to argue, Kaiser reluctantly followed his sister out of the door and closed it behind the two of them – concealing the bodies inside the office.  Turning transparent, Macey and Kaiser made their way back up the stairs and lied in wait in the small room that they were in before. 

“What’s your plan?”  Kaiser asked as Macey sat on the small cot with her right leg dagger in her hand. 

“You’ll see,” she said in almost an angry tone.  “Just don’t interfere.”

A few minutes went by, and Macey’s plan began to unfold – only a slight bit differently than she had anticipated.  Instead of Rayne Muto dropping down into the room from the tunnel, a set of stairs dropped from the ceiling in the corner of the room next to the sink.  Are you kidding me?  Macey thought to herself in disbelief.  I went through all that, and there was a secret stairway through the floor the whole time.  As the sound of heels came closer to the brother and sister assassins, Kaiser’s curiosity grew more, and Macey stood up from the bed quietly with her dagger in hand.  Then, as soon as, Rayne Muto stepped foot on the floor, Macey quickly and quietly went over to her, and with one stab to the back with her dagger, Rayne Muto’s body collapsed onto the floor.

“Go call for clean up,” Macey told Kaiser as she came out of her Transparent form.  Without hesitation, Kaiser made his way up the stairs and back into the sex shop that housed the sickening, illegal operation. 

 

**Assassin Fact #2.)**   Each assassin rank has their own “cleanup crew” who are called in after every successful assassination in order to eliminate any incriminating evidence and dispose of the body/bodies.

 

Still lying on the floor was an almost dead Rayne Muto who was gasping for air.

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Macey sighed as she knelt down beside her dying target.  “You had a hole punched through your lung.  You feel how hard it is for you to breathe right now?  That’s how those children feel every single second of every single day,” she began to scold her with tears of anger filling her eyes.  “At least you’ll know the release of death, but they never will.  They’re what?  Seven…seven to nine years old?  They have to live with how you treated them for the rest of their lives.  Most of them will be sent back to the orphanage that you adopted them from, and they’ll always wonder if the next person who adopts them will put them through this kind of torture.  They’re children!  Innocent children!”

Macey quickly grabbed the notebook that she had been reading earlier out of the nightstand drawer and showed it to Rayne, who was almost dead.  “Have you read this?”  She asked with a look of disgust on her face and anger in her voice.  “This makes me want to puke!  What kind of monster are you to feel like it’s okay to put children through what’s written in here?  You know, when you’re an assassin in training, they teach you that you can’t let your emotions blind you from your mission, and I’ll be honest with you, I try so hard to not let my emotions blind me from my missions, but after learning what you did to these kids, I can honestly say that I’ve seen true evil, and thanks to you, I’ve finally realized what kind of assassin I really am.  Have fun burning in hell.”

            As Macey finished her speech to the dying target, she stood up and ripped a blank piece of paper out of the notebook.  A few seconds later, Rayne Muto took her last breath and Macey knelt back down by her, took her dagger out of her back, wiped the blood from the dagger onto the piece of paper, stood back up, placed the dagger back in her right leg strap and made her way up the stairs to meet up with her brother.

“Here,” she said as she handed the piece of paper to Kaiser who was waiting for the cleanup crew to arrive.

“On a piece of paper?”  Kaiser questioned her with a raised eyebrow.

 

**Assassin Rule #4.)** Assassins must collect evidence of a successful assassination by gathering enough blood on a white piece of fabric.  They must turn it in along with their signed statement that the assassination was completed.

 

“Just turn it in,” Macey said as she kept walking.

“You still have to sign your statement,” Kaiser reminded her as he took the black folder out of his boot.

“Really?”  She said with a look of disbelief.  “You had it shoved down in your shoe?  How professional.”

“You’re one to talk,” he said as he put the folder down on the front counter.  “You broke the number one rule of being an assassin.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have if someone had placed the painting back where it was supposed to be,” Macey said with a sarcastic smirk.

“Just sign the damn statement,” Kaiser replied, ignoring his sister’s remark.

“Fine,” she said as she grabbed a pen from behind the counter.  As she flipped to the last page of the folder, the line with the “X” was waiting for her signature.  Without thought, she signed the statement with her real name with her last name first and her first name last, “Tacita, Dea”.

“I don’t understand why you don’t go by your real name, Dea,” Kaiser said to his sister as he placed the bloody piece of paper in the back of the folder.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” she said as she turned away from her brother and headed out the front door.

“You still have to complete your mission,” Kaiser said as she got close to opening the front door.

“Yeah, about that,” she sighed as she turned around to face her brother.  “I’m not gonna do it.”

“I’m sorry…WHAT?” Kaiser said in complete disbelief.

“Are you deaf or something?”  She asked in a bored tone.  “I said, ‘I’m not going to do it.’,” she repeated herself a little slower.  Before Kaiser had time to react, she turned Transparent and bolted out of the front door – leaving him alone with the hostage children and the four dead bodies.  You’re lucky I love you little sister, but I don’t think the order will feel the same way, he thought as he looked at the folder in his hand.  Hopefully, you’ll come back around before it’s too late.

            After Macey got back home, she realized that it was only five in the morning.  I’ve got nine hours until Gohan meets me, she thought.  Instead of planning to carry out her biggest mission to assassinate the Saiyans, she instead got a shower, changed her hair and eyes back to purple, put on her comfortable clothes, watched television, drank coffee, and ate food for the next eight and a half hours – making sure to give herself enough time to meet Gohan back out in front of the Oak Valley apartment building.  As she walked out of her warehouse at 1:45, she was wearing nothing but her basic assassin underclothing – her black spandex long sleeve shirt, her black spandex pants, and her boots.

“What are you doing, you idiot?!”  The voice in her head yelled at her as she went to walk out of the door without any weapons.  Instead of fighting back, she ignored the voice, locked her warehouse and quickly and transparently made her way to the front of Oak Valley Apartments.  After standing outside for about ten minutes, she was greeted by a familiar face as well as an unfamiliar face.

            “Hey, Macey!”  Gohan excitedly greeted her.

“Hey, how’s it going?”  She asked quietly with a small smirk.

“Wow, Gohan!  You were right!”  The man with him exclaimed.  “She is pretty!”

“Oh…um…thank you,” Macey nervously chuckled.  That’s a first, she thought.

“Dad!  Would you cut it out?!”  Gohan nervously pleaded to the man next to him.  “I’m sorry about that,” he chuckled.  “This is my dad, Goku.  Dad, this is my friend, Macey.”

“My bad, Gohan,” he said quietly.  “Nice to meet you,” he said with a grin as he held out his right hand to Macey.

“Oh, uh, nice to meet you too,” she replied, feeling a bit awkward as they shook hands.

“So, what have you been up to today?  Ready to train with us?”  Gohan asked Macey as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh, nothing,” she shrugged.  “Just an early morning workout, and absolutely.  I’ve been looking forward to it all day.”

“Wow,” Goku replied in amazement.  “Two workouts in one day?  That’s different for a girl.”

“Well, I’m not your normal girl,” Macey chuckled.

“Wow, Gohan, I like her,” Goku said quietly as he leaned over to his son, causing both Macey and Gohan to turn red in the face.  “Well, let’s get going!”  Goku exclaimed as he held out his hand again to Macey and Gohan grabbed onto his father’s shoulder.

“Just grab his hand,” Gohan told her as he noticed a confused look coming on to her face.  “Trust me.” 

She did as Gohan told her to and with Goku’s left hand, he touched his forehead with his index and middle finger, and to her amazement, the three of them were gone in a flash.


	4. Chapter 4 - Don't Say I Didn't Try to Help

Miles away from Macey’s warehouse hideout, while Macey was enjoying her first training session with Gohan and his father, her brother, Kaiser was having a sit down with the leader of the assassins – Queen Enyo.  In the hidden underground compound, Queen Enyo sat at her throne as Kaiser, who was dressed in his normal black and red assassin getup, knelt down on his right knee in front of her.  Due to the compound being underground, the lighting was dim, the walls were bare, and the floor was made of stone.  Her throne, however, was made of pure gold and white marble.  The Queen herself, who was deemed the strongest assassin in existence, had long pure golden hair.  On each of her breasts, separate braids laid.  Her light blue skin complimented her pure white eyes, and her outfit was one fit for a queen.  Her collar went to her neck, and then the shirt itself went down along her sides.  It wrapped her figure perfectly so that her belly button area was visible – accompanied with beautiful golden accents on the edges, and the majority of her breast were visible – only having the nipples and sides covered.  For her skirt, it had a short white center piece along with two longer golden panels that covered each of her legs.  Her socks that ran from her ankles to her upper thigh were made of a white fabric with gold forming accents at the top, and her sandals that laced up her legs were pure gold with white bottoms.  The cape that attached onto her shoulders met the floor beneath her whenever she stood up, and just like the others parts of her outfit, it was also made with white fabric and accented in gold along the bottom. And lastly, on top of her head laid a white crown with a gorgeous golden emblem in it – symbolizing her as the assassin queen.

            “Queen Enyo,” Kaiser said as he kneeled down in front of the seated queen with his head bowed and his right hand over his heart.

“You may stand,” she said professionally. 

“Thank you, milady,” Kaiser said as he stood up and stood face to face with the queen.

“How can I be of service to you Mr. Tacita?”  The queen asked.

“It’s about Dea, ma’am,” Kaiser began.  “I believe she could use another training contract.”

“Another?”  The queen asked confusedly.  “I heard the other one went as planned.”

“Yes, milady, it did,” Kaiser confirmed.  “But something tells me that she’s still not ready to carry out her lifelong mission.”

“Ah, I see,” Queen Enyo nodded as she stood up from her throne and began to walk over to Kaiser.  “It is a tough task; I won’t deny that.  They are the strongest race in the universe.”

“Exactly, milady.  I feel like that’s why she hasn’t completed her mission yet,” Kaiser suggested.  “You and I know both know what she is, and we both know how the Saiyans are.  It’s obvious that she would become drawn and even attached to them.”

“What has she told you, Mr. Tacita?”  Queen Enyo insisted to know.

“She hasn’t told me anything,” Kaiser said without hesitation.  “Other than when she told me that she wasn’t going to do it.”

“She said those exact words to you?”  The queen asked.

“Yes, milady,” Kaiser confirmed.

“Interesting,” the queen said quietly as she walked back to her throne and sat down.  “The whole reason she was created was to carry out this mission.  Does she not know that?”

“She does, milady, but I don’t think she cares,” Kaiser said quietly.  “Perhaps our father made a mistake when he made her.”

“Doctor Mors was our race’s most skillful doctor, Mr. Tacita,” the queen replied, sounding almost insulted.  “He specifically created Dea before he died so that she would carry out the mission.”

“Yes, milady,” Kaiser nodded his head, “I’m aware of that, but perhaps he shouldn’t have mixed different DNAs.”

“Mr. Tacita,” the queen countered him.  “She was born an Assassin, raised as an Assassin, and trained as an Assassin.  She is destined to carry out her mission – she can’t fight what she is.”

“I understand, milady,” Kaiser said quietly.  “However, since she and I are biologically family due to sharing the same mother, I would like to request permission to help her complete her mission.”

“Do you realize what you’re asking of me?”  Queen Enyo asked.  “That would be going against your father’s dying wish.”

“I do, milady,” Kaiser nodded his head.  “I understand that he created Dea for the task of assassinating the Saiyans, but she’s only fifteen years old, milady, she may not be experienced enough yet.  I’m a rank higher and six years older than her.  I believe I may be able to help her fulfill our father’s wish.”

“You just answered your own request, Mr. Tacita,” the queen said calmly.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand, milady,” he replied with a confused look on his face.

“She’s fifteen years old,” the queen began with a soft voice and smile.  “She’s a young half Saiyan.  It’s only natural that she would want to bond with them, but as the expiration date on the contract nears, she will remember her true purpose – just give her time.”

“What shall we do in the meantime, milady?”  Kaiser asked.

“You will keep monitoring her, and she will receive a new side contract every week instead of every month in order to keep up appearances,” the queen began.  “As far as her mission goes, there’s a six-month time limit on it due to the circumstances.  No other assassin is allowed to carry it out, and that includes you.  If in six-months she doesn’t complete it, then we will have no choice but to execute her, and I will be forced to carry it out personally.”

“Yes, milady,” Kaiser agreed.  Before exiting the throne room, he kneeled back down in front of the sitting queen and placed his hand over his heart again.  “Thank you, Queen Enyo,” he said as he bowed his head.

I’m sorry, milady, Kaiser thought as he walked out the doors of the throne room and started down the long underground road that contained the small Assassin towns.  I can’t let you hurt my little sister, he thought as he exited the underground compound.

 

…

 

            “Thanks for letting me train with you guys,” Macey said as Goku, Gohan, and she stood outside Oak Valley apartments.  Four hours had gone by since the trio left for their training session, and Macey learned more about the Saiyans than she originally had known, but was careful to make sure that they didn’t learn that much about her. 

“Hey, any time,” Goku said with a friendly smile.  “You’re really strong.  I see a lot of potential in you.”

“Say, what are you guys doing next Saturday?”  Macey asked, hoping to have another training session.

“Oh, I uh…I have a date with Videl,” Gohan nervously chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh,” Macey replied, sounding disappointed.  “Well, the next time you guys aren’t busy, would you like to train together sometime?”

“Sure!”  Gohan exclaimed.

“Well, Gohan may be busy next Saturday, but my schedule is wide open if you wanna train again,” Goku said excitedly.

“Really?  That’d be awesome,” Macey said calmly as she flashed a short half-smile.

“Of course!  Just make sure your parents are alright with it,” Goku said with a little bit of seriousness in his voice.

“Oh trust me,” Macey chuckled.  “They don’t mind.”

“Sweet!  So, I’ll meet you out here at the same time?”  Goku proposed.

“Sounds great,” she replied as she shook Goku’s hand.

“Alright, Gohan,” Goku said as he looked over to his son.  “We’d better get going, we don’t want your mom to yell at us for being late for dinner,” he chuckled. 

“I’ll see you on Monday, Macey,” Gohan said with a smile as he grabbed onto his father’s shoulder, and within a few seconds, the two of the vanished off the side of the street.

“Perfect!”  The voice that Macey had been ignoring all day yelled.  “You’ll have Goku all alone next weekend – perfect time to strike.”

No, Macey thought in reply as she began to walk towards her warehouse hideout.  I’ve already made my decision.

“How pathetic,” Kaiser whispered to himself as he stood transparent on top of the apartment building at the faux address and watched his sister walk to the end of the road.  Once she got out of his sight, he quickly jumped from building to building and caught up to her as she was unlocking the door to her warehouse.  Still out of sight, he perched himself on the building across the street and watched his sister walk into her hideout.  As she closed the door behind her, he leapt off the building, walked up to the front door and held his right ear against it.  Once he heard the bathroom door close and the shower kick on, he pulled out his lock pick set and quietly opened the front door.  Once inside, he closed and locked the door behind him and took a seat on the futon.  While he waited for his little sister to get out of the shower, he leaned his head back and propped his feet up on the coffee table – effectively making himself at home.

“Yeah, just go ahead and make yourself right at home,” Macey said sarcastically as she stepped out of the bathroom wearing her pajamas and drying her hair with her towel.

“Hm?”  Kaiser mumbled as he perked his head up at the sound of her voice.  “I must have fallen asleep,” he said as he sat up on the futon.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t following me around twenty-four seven, you wouldn’t be so tired,” Macey replied sounding annoyed as she threw her towel into her dirty clothes basket.  “What do you want?”  She asked as she let out a sigh and crossed her arms.

“Can’t a big brother just stop in to say ‘hello’ to his little sister?”  Kaiser asked sarcastically.

“It’s never just a ‘hello’ with you,” Macey rebutted. “You’re here for a reason.”

“Fine,” Kaiser sighed as he stood up after a few seconds of staring back and forth with his sister.  “October 3rd, Mieko Kase,” he began casually as he walked over to Macey who was standing on the other side of the coffee table.

“What’re you doing?”  She asked, sounding confused.

“October 10th, Rio Takemoto,” he continued, ignoring her question.

“Stop it,” she said once she realized what he was doing.

“October 17th, Rena Tao,” he continued.

“I said stop,” Macey said silently.

“October 24th, Mara Okino.  October 31st, Koki Sera.  November 7th, Reiko Kon, and lastly, November 14th, Rayne Muto,” he finally finished.

“Are you done?”  She asked quietly as she stood with her arms crossed and her head turned away from Kaiser and towards the front door.

“Now I am,” he said sternly.

“What was the point of that?”  She asked, sounding offended.

“Dea, you are the -,” he began before being cut off by his pissed off sister.

“Do NOT call me that,” she said coldly as she glanced back at her brother.  “That’s NOT my name.”

“You are the best assassin that is left in our family – even one of the best in the entire Order,” he began as he ignored his sister’s demand.  “Each week, you complete new contracts, whereas it takes almost a month for the rest of us to finish one.”

“You and I are the only assassins left in our family,” she scoffed as she looked down to the ground.

“Yes,” he confirmed.  “And you seem to have forgotten why that is.”

“I haven’t forgotten, Kaiser,” she said quietly.

“Then why are you refusing to avenge your family?”  He asked, sounding angry.

A few moments of silence went by before Kaiser pushed for an answer out of her.  “Dea!  They are going to execute you in six months if you don’t finish your mission, and nothing I do or say can stop them.  I want to protect you for as long as I can, but I can’t do that if you don’t have a good enough reason for you delaying the assassinations!”

“I know that!”  She yelled back with anger in her eyes, looking at her brother.

“Then why are you being like this?”  He begged to know, trying to conceal his anger.  “What’s the point of dragging this out?”

“If I were dragging it out, that would mean that I was going to do it eventually,” she countered him.

“Dea,” Kaiser began quietly as he grabbed his sister by the shoulders.  “Please, please, please.  I’m begging you.  Please, tell me why you would rather lose your life than to just complete the mission.”

“Fine,” she said bluntly after a few seconds of silence.  “The Saiyans are the strongest warrior race out there.  I want to learn everything I can from them.  Don’t you get it, Kaiser?”  She chuckled.  “I want to be the strongest assassin to have ever existed – even stronger than Queen Enyo.”  As she finished her explanation, a smirk came across her face and Kaiser took his hands off of his sister’s shoulders.  “You’d be amazed at just how much I learned in one day from Gohan and his father, and I still haven’t met the other full blood or the other two half breeds.  I’m sure it’ll take me longer than six months to learn everything they know, so I might as well not even start the assassinations.”

“Dea,” Kaiser said in almost a whisper.  “You are one of the strongest assassins.”

“One of them,” Macey emphasized.  “I want to be the strongest – completely unrivaled.  Besides, you know how I feel about this mission being handed to me.  I didn’t earn it.  I didn’t fight for it.”

 This is the Saiyan in her, Kaiser thought to himself.  I can’t let her find out.

“So your ego is more important than your life?”  Kaiser asked, sounding angry again.

“No,” Macey denied.  “All of the people you listed off were scum – people who hurt others.  That’s why I went after those contracts.  Even Queen Enyo has caught on to my preferences – that’s why she gave me the Muto contract.  The Saiyans that I’ve met don’t seem like they would hurt a fly.”

“Wouldn’t hurt a fly?!”  Kaiser scoffed with disbelief.  “Dea, they killed our family!  Our mother!  You have no right to play selective vigilante!”

“That was seventeen years ago!”  Macey yelled back.  “It wasn’t the Saiyans that are here today.  The ones who killed them are long gone.”

“They’re all the same,” Kaiser said through his gritted teeth.

“No,” she shook her head.  “They’re not.  And maybe if you didn’t have your head so far up your ass you would be able to see that.”

            As the brother and sister stood across from each other, Macey felt that she said what she needed to say and was awaiting her brother’s response.  However, instead of yelling back at his sister, he stood quietly at a loss of words.

“Fine,” he finally said quietly, sounding defeated as he walked towards the front door.  “I give up.  I’m done bothering you about it.  Don’t say that I didn’t try to help you.  Have fun playing vigilante.”  As he finished his sentence, he opened the door and closed it behind him.

“Hmph,” she grunted as the door closed.  “Don’t worry.  I will.”

            As Saturday night came and went, Sunday did as well, and Macey spent the entire day doing nothing but relaxing in her pajamas and watching television.  To her surprise, there was no word from her brother who had been nagging her day in and day out to complete her mission.

Strange, she thought has she stood in the kitchen, wearing her pajamas and looking at the time on the microwave.  It’s 9 PM, and Kaiser isn’t here. Hope he’s alive, she shrugged.

“Or maybe he’s realized what a useless piece of garbage you are and decided not to waste his time anymore!”  The voice in her head yelled.

Not now; you’re going to ruin my dinner, she replied nonchalantly in thought – effectively shutting the voice up.  She walked over to her futon with her heated up teriyaki chicken and fried rice along with her cup of lemonade, and once she got to the futon, she kicked her feet up on the coffee table and turned the television on so that she could watch her favorite show while she ate dinner. After eating, she took her dishes to the kitchen, loaded them into the dishwasher, and then she took her cell phone out of her black messenger bag that was still on the floor next to the futon, set alarms for 7:00, 7:15, and 7:30 AM, and then sat it on the coffee table.  She unfolded her futon to turn it into her bed, and then reached over a flipped the light switch to cut the light off.  As Macey slept in her favorite position – flat on her back with her right foot against her left calf in the shape of a four, her left hand over her shoulder and under her pillow and behind her neck, her right hand dangled down, and her head turned to the left towards the wall, she was unaware of the danger that stood in the dark on the other side of the coffee table in front of her television.  Suddenly, she felt a cold, hard object being held against the right side of her neck.  Instinctually, her eyes shot open and faster than she could process what was going on, she pushed herself towards the wall to move away from the cold hard object, sat up on her right knee and right elbow, and quickly pulled out and threw the silver kunai knife that she had been holding under her pillow with her left hand.  After she threw the weapon, she heard an object slam into the wall, and she heard her television screen bust, her entertainment center break, and everything on it fall to the ground.

Great, she thought as she got up from her bed and walked over to flip the light switch on.  As the light came on, she looked over towards the television and saw a sight that sent shivers down her spine.

            “What the hell is going on?”  She asked herself quietly as she began shaking full of fear.  Pinned against the wall was the clearly dead body of a fellow assassin dressed in black and white – symbolizing him as a rookie.  Once she walked over to the dead body, she realized that the object that had slammed into the wall was the assassin, and the object that had been held to her neck was one of the assassin’s twin daggers.  While examining the scene, she noticed how much force she had actually thrown the kunai with.  The kunai was thrown with such force that only the last quarter inch of the handle was visible, and the rest had gone straight through the assassin’s head – right in between the eyes, it pushed the assassin against the television – causing him to crash into the entertainment center, and the knife part of the kunai had gone through the television screen and pinned the assassin to the wall.  “Who are you?”  She whispered as her heart rate began to speed up.  “No identification,” she said quietly after searching the assassin.  As she continued to search the assassin, she found a black folder stuck down in his right boot behind his calf.  “Black folder,” she gasped as she held the folder in front of her.  Why would he carry this on him?  There’s only one other person I know who does this, she pondered as she looked at the black folder in her hands.  Kaiser. 

 

Assassin Rule #4.)  All legal contracts are delivered directly to the queen in a black folder by the requesting agent or a C.I.A messenger.  All illegal contracts are requested by and given directly to the queen in a red folder by someone outside of the C.I.A.  The queen is required to sign off on legal contracts but not illegal contracts.  Each type of contract is to be kept at the compound and away from the assassination.  Assassins who are caught carrying a legal contract folder during an assassination will face a six-month probation.  Assassins caught carrying an illegal contract folder will face execution.

 

“Do I really even need to look inside it?”  She asked herself as she walked over and sat down on her futon.  Deciding that her curiosity was too much, she opened up the folder and inside was a picture of herself that was taken at her promotion ceremony staring back at her with the word “TARGET” written above it and a $400,000 reward listed.  As a knot formed in her stomach, she quickly closed the folder, dropped it on the coffee table, and placed her hands over her mouth.  $400,000?  She asked herself as tears began to form in her eyes.  That’s 160 times the normal amount for a contract.  She reached for the folder again in curiosity to see who had ordered it.  Great.  Anonymous, she confirmed.  But it’s signed by Queen Enyo.  Why would Queen Enyo sign off on a contract to have me killed? She reached for her phone and called for the one person that she didn’t want help from – her brother.  “Why is it always at 2AM?”  She asked herself as she picked up her phone.  As she pressed his name in her contact list, she took a deep breath in and exhaled.  After three rings, the sleeping older brother answered in a tired voice. 

“Kaiser,” Macey said quietly.  “Get over here.”

Suddenly, just as if he had been injected with a shot of adrenaline, Kaiser was wide awake.  “I’m on my way,” he said as he jumped out of bed and quickly put on his standard assassin gear.

 

…

 

 

            “Well,” Kaiser said as he stood next to his sister and looked at the dead assassin.

“Well, what?”  Macey asked with annoyance in her voice.

“You know what this means, right?”  Kaiser asked as he looked to his left and down at his sister.

“Yeah,” she said quietly.  “That I’m a target.”

“No,” he replied as he walked up to the body to examine it.  “That you should have just done your mission and you wouldn’t be in this hideout anymore.”

“Seriously?”  She scoffed.  “I’m almost certain that you had something do to with this.”

“What?”  He replied as he looked back at his sister, looking offended.  “Why would you think that I had anything to do with this?  I came over here as fast as I could because I thought you were in danger.”

“I found this in his right boot,” she said as she walked over to the coffee table and grabbed the black folder with her picture inside of it.  “Besides this guy, you’re the only other person that I know who does that.”

“Dea, it’s no secret that I do that,” he told her as he grabbed the folder from her.  “Anyone could have gotten the idea from me.  Besides, he’s a rookie.  He probably did it thinking that it’s what all the higher ranks do.  Holy crap!  $400,000?!”   He exclaimed as he looked at the reward page of the folder.

“Someone wants me dead,” Macey said silently as she watched her brother flip through the folder – reading each page.

“Yeah, someone who has a very large bank account,” he replied casually as he continued to look through the folder.

“But why?”  She asked as she looked at the dead assassin.  “What have I done to anyone?”

“It could have something to do with the Saiyans,” Kaiser suggested, but then was met with a glare from Macey. 

“They have nothing to do with this,” she scoffed.  “Besides, they aren’t part of the C.I.A.”

“I didn’t say they had something to do with it,” Kaiser clarified.  “I was suggesting that it could be someone within the C.I.A who’s mad that you haven’t completed the mission yet.”

“You’re the only one who’s been harassing me about it,” Macey fired back as she walked up to the dead assassin to see if she could find any identifying marks.  The few moments of silence between the two assassins were interrupted when Kaiser made a startling discovery.

“Hey, look at this,” he said as he walked up to Macey.

“What is it?”  She asked as she turned to look at him over her right shoulder.

“Look closely,” he said as he pointed to the writing on the back page of the folder.  “I almost missed it because it’s almost perfect.”

Macey intensely looked at the writing in the folder to see what her brother had found.  “The handwriting,” she said.

“Exactly,” Kaiser confirmed.  “And look at this,” he said, pointing to the ink.

“Dark blue ink,” Macey said quietly

“Exactly,” Kaiser confirmed.  “This contract wasn’t ordered by anyone in the C.I.A or signed off by Queen Enyo.  The C.I.A agents know to fill out their orders in black ink, and because our friend here is a rookie, I doubt he would have noticed the forged signature.”

“So, someone created a forged C.I.A contract and then gave it to this guy?”  Macey asked with a confused look on her face.

“That’s what it looks like,” Kaiser said casually as he picked at the ink.

“Why not just order a normal illegal contract?”  Macey asked as she crossed her arms and looked at the body.

“I don’t know,” Kaiser said with a sigh as he put the folder down on the coffee table.  “Maybe they didn’t want him executed if he was caught.” 

“Hmph.  Too late for that,” Macey said with a chuckle under her breath so soft that Kaiser didn’t hear her.

“I’m willing to bet that it was made by someone in the Order,” Kaiser admitted.  “Only assassins and agents know what these look like.  Either that, or a very smart civilian who knows about us.  Anyone besides me would have bought it,” he said as he walked up to the body and began to take it down.  “I’ll go hide the poor fool.  In the meantime, if it turns out that he was assigned this contract by someone in the Order, then you’ve got seven days before they realize that something’s up.”

**Assassin Rule #5.)** Assassins who go seven consecutive days without checking in to a family/clan/guild member or the queen will be considered dead.  After the seventh day, the contract that the assassin was working will be given to another assassin immediately.  If an assassin is known to have died on a mission, the contract will go to another assassin immediately. 

 

“Just get him out of here, please,” Macey said silently as she closed her eyes.  “I’m getting a headache.”

“You’ve got seven days until another one might be handed your file,” Kaiser reminded her as he walked towards the front door.  “Perhaps you should enlist the help of your little Saiyan pals?”  He said sarcastically.

“Cute,” she said sarcastically with a sarcastic smirk.

            As Kaiser left with the body of the assassin, Macey let out a sigh and turned her attention back towards the broken television and entertainment center. 

“Lovely,” she casually said to herself as she looked at the damage that had been caused by the deceased assassin.  Curious as to what time it was, she grabbed her cell phone off the coffee table and turned the screen on to look at the time.  “Wonderful,” she scoffed.  5 AM.  165 hours until another assassin possibly comes after me – a higher rank, no doubt.  Maybe I should just start sleeping during the day, she thought to herself as she sat back down on her futon. I guess I should probably clean the mess up.   “Screw it,” she said under her breath with a sigh as she stood back up mere seconds after sitting down.  She headed to the kitchen and began to make herself breakfast, and once she was done, she walked back over to her coffee table and ate in silence as she looked at the collapsed entertainment center and shattered television.


	5. Chapter 5 - Have You Seen the New Teacher?

While Monday went as usual and uneventful, Tuesday, however, was filled with teenage gossip about a new teacher who had just started working there.  As Macey sat in the fourth floor library during lunch, studying for her next class, she couldn’t help but overhear the teenage chatter going on a few rows ahead of her on the left.

“Have you seen the new teacher?”  One of the gossiping girls asked, sound almost in shock.

Who cares about a new teacher?  Macey wondered to herself.

“Oh, my gosh,” another one of the girls replied.  “He’s so gorgeous!”

“Yeah, and I heard he’s single,” another girl excitedly added in.

“How does this sound?  ‘Mr. Keeda, will you please go to prom with me?’” One of the other girls asked the group sounding completely infatuated with the new teacher.

How childish, Macey thought as she flipped through her psychology book and let out a slight snicker.  Having a crush on a teacher is something that twelve year olds do.  2:20, thank God, she thought as she looked up to the clock on the wall ahead of her.  With five minutes to spare to get to her next class, psychology, she gathered her things and carried her books in her right arm and her black messenger bag with weapons over her left shoulder. 

 

**Macey’s School Schedule (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays):**

 

8:00 – 9:00 – Math

9:05 – 11:05 – Study Hall

11:10 – 12:10 – History

12:20 – 2:20 – Lunch

2:25 – 3:25 – English

 

**Macey’s School Schedule (Tuesdays and Thursdays):**

 

8:00 – 9:00 – Science

9:05 – 11:05 – Study Hall

11:10 – 12:10 – Physical Education

12:20 – 2:20 – Lunch

2:25 – 3:25 - Psychology

 

            When Macey went to open the door of her class, room 410, she heard a familiar voice call out for her.

“Macey!”  Gohan yelled with enthusiasm, “hang on a sec!”

I wonder if it’s too late so change my schedule, she thought as she turned around to look at Gohan pushing his way through the crowd of people to get to her. I know I’m supposed to have every class with him, but this is getting ridiculous.

“Finally,” he sighed after finally reaching her.  “Jeez, you have this class too?  How bizarre.  We have so many classes together,” he chuckled.

“We have every class together, Gohan,” she said in a bored tone.

“Really?”  He said with a raised eyebrow.  “I didn’t see you in science or P.E earlier.”

“Well, I was there,” she assured him.

            “Gohan!”  A voice from halfway down the hallway yelled, causing the two of them to turn around.

Lovely, Macey thought sarcastically as Videl walked up to them.

“Hey, Videl!”  Gohan said excitedly as he gave her a hug.

“What is she doing here, Gohan?”  Videl said in an aggravated tone as she looked at Macey and crossed her arms.

“She has this class with us,” Gohan explained.

“How’s the wrist, Videl?”  Macey asked with a small smirk.

“Fine, thanks for asking,” Videl replied, still sounding angry as she stood close to Gohan and glared at the undercover assassin.

“Well, uh we better get going,” Gohan butted in with a nervous chuckle.  “We don’t wanna be late.  You know how Mrs. Toma can be.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Macey said as she began to turn towards the vending machines.

“Fine by me,” Videl said as she turned to walk into the classroom with Gohan in tow.  “I won,” she whispered as she passed by Macey so quietly that Gohan couldn’t hear her.

“Didn’t know we were competing,” Macey fired back nonchalantly.  Trust me, sweetheart, she thought as she walked up to the machines and took her wallet out of her back pocket.  If I wanted him, I would’ve already had him in my bed.  After taking $1.50 out of her wallet, she got a Lemon Wave Zero to drink – a lemon flavored soda with zero calories and zero sugar.  Once she got all of her belongings, she walked up to the door to the psychology class and walked inside where she was met with the principal standing in front of the room and Videl shooting her a glare from the back of the room sitting next to Gohan.  Like she had done in the other classes that Gohan didn’t notice her in, she took the first seat in the row closest to the wall next to the window. 

            “Okay, class,” Principal Abra began as Macey took her seat, “it is my deepest regret to inform you that Mrs. Toma is no longer with us.” 

As he said the words, the whole class started gasping and asking each other if they knew what had happened.  “Or, no,” the principal continued.  “I mean that she’s no longer working for Orange Star High School.  She sent in her letter of immediate resignation last night.”  A huge sigh of relief came over the class.  “I do, however, believe that I have found the perfect teacher to take her place.  Everybody, I would like you all to give a warm welcome to Mr. Keeda,” he said excitedly as he held his hand towards the door, giving the signal for the new teacher to come in.  Once Principal Abra announced the name of the new teacher, sounds of fangirling teenagers took over the classroom.

This guy can’t be that gorgeous, can he?  Macey thought to herself as she noticed that only she and the guys in the room were the only ones not impressed.  The door cracked open and all of the love-struck teenagers curiously looked to see who was walking through the door, and embarrassingly enough, so was Macey.  The man who walked through the door was wearing a black suit with a black tie and a white undershirt.  He had black dress shoes with black laces and white toes.  In his right hand, he carried a messenger bag almost identical to the one that Macey had, and in his left hand, he carried the standard Psychology 101 textbook.  His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his dark eyes contrasted with his light skin.

OH…MY…GOD, Macey thought to herself as her right eye twitched and left hand crushed the newly opened soda can in her hand.  She glared at the new teacher with a disgusted and angry look, and unknowingly drew attention to herself.

            “Wow,” one of the guys sitting diagonally behind her chuckled to one of his friends.  “New girl here is totally turned on by the guy.”  However, Macey didn’t seem to notice the perverted comment and instead, kept looking at the new teacher.

“Good afternoon, class,” Mr. Keeda kindly greeted the class with a bow.  “I’ll be your psychology teacher for the rest of the school year.”  While all the girls gazed at the teacher and were smitten with the sound of his voice, Macey continued to grumble unintelligible words under her breath as her body continued to shake with anger and she held the crushed up can in her hand.

“Well, well,” Mr. Keeda said in almost a cocky tone as he walked up to Macey.  “Is something troubling you today, dear?”  When the other girls heard him call her “dear”, they became captivated with the sound of the word. 

“I wish he’d call me that,” one girl said quietly to her friend sitting next to her.

“Do you think she knows him?”  Videl leaned over and asked Gohan, generally curious.

“No idea,” Gohan quietly said as he shook his head and looked at the clearly uncomfortable interaction between Macey and the teacher.  However, instead of replying to the new teacher’s question, she couldn’t do anything but grumble words between her teeth.

“Here.  Let me take that for you,” Mr. Keeda said as reached over and grabbed the crushed can from Macey’s hand, but it was clear that she wasn’t going to let it go as she gripped it tighter.  “Well alright then,” he said with a small smile.  “Whatever makes you happy.”  Ending the awkward situation, Mr. Keeda walked back up to the front of the room and told the principal that he had everything handled.  “Alright, class,” he began as he stepped in front of his desk that was in the center of the room and leaned against it with his arms crossed.  “Before we begin, there are a few rules that I’d like to put into place.  First things first, we will be meeting together every Tuesday and Thursday for the next six months.”

Great, Macey thought sarcastically to herself.  Can’t wait to hear this.

“I expect all of my rules followed because if one person breaks the rules, then it could potentially ruin everyone else’s time in this class,” he continued in a kind voice.  “My first rule is: attendance.  I understand that things happen, and sometimes they can’t be avoided.  However, you need to be here every day on time, alright?  Being on time means that we can all get started sooner.  Rule number two is: groups.  I will be assigning everyone into groups of three, and all of your projects from here on out will be completed in said groups.  Rule number three is: no late assignments.  I will not accept any late assignments.  I have a life outside of here, and I intend to live it.  The reason I will be putting you into groups is so that I can grade nine assignments per project instead of twenty-seven, and my last rule is: be respectful.  Please be respectful to everyone around you even if you don’t like them.  Now, I don’t care who kissed, slept with, or talked about whom – once you step foot in here, all of that stops.  Does anyone have any questions?”

            “Oh, my,” one girl sighed, clearly smitten.  “He has such a way with words,” she said quietly.

“No?”  Mr. Keeda assumed as he looked around the room to see if anyone had any questions.  “Okay, first I’m going to call roll, and then I’ll be assigning you into groups.”

As he called each student on the roll, they each raised their hand and indicated that they were there; however, once he got to Macey, she didn’t utter a single word.  Instead, she continued to glare at him.  “I’m going to assume that you’re Macey Evans?”  He asked kindly as he looked at the angry undercover assassin.  Keeping true to his word, he began assigning groups seemingly at random, but once he got to putting Macey in a group, she realized that it wasn’t random at all. “Let’s see,” he said as he looked at the name list.  “Ah ha.  Let’s have Macey, Gohan, and Videl in a group.”

“I’m sorry, Dea,” the voice that had once been yelling at her, laughed.  “This is just too funny.”

SHUT…UP! She yelled in thought in reply. 

“You can’t be serious!”  Videl yelled as she stood up from her desk.  “I’ll definitely work with Gohan, but you’re crazy if you think I’m going to work with her!”

“Don’t forget my last rule, Ms. Satan,” Mr. Keeda replied in a stern but kind tone.  “Respect.”  Instead of arguing with the teacher, Videl grunted and sat back down with her arms crossed, clearly fuming mad.  After he assigned the remaining four groups, he began teaching the day’s lesson.  Instead of taking notes like Macey did in all her other classes, she sat there with her arms crossed and glared at the new teacher the entire time.  When class got to five minutes before getting out, Mr. Keeda assigned his first project.

“Now,” he said as the students began to pack up their bags.  “You all know each other pretty well, yet I don’t.  Today’s lesson was about observation and interpretation.  Before next Tuesday, I want each group to get together and meet anywhere you’d like.  Write down things that you observe each other doing, and see if you can interpret what their actions mean.  If there are no questions, class is dismissed.”

            “Hey,” Gohan said as he walked past Macey with Videl by his side.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Come on, Gohan,” Videl snapped.  “Let’s go.”

“Right,” he chuckled.  A few moments later, the entire class was empty except for Macey who was still sitting at her desk with her arms crossed and glaring at Mr. Keeda.

“Alright,” he sighed as he stood up from his desk and walked towards her.  “Here you go,” he said as he went to hand her $1.50 that he had hidden in his right hand; however, it was swatted away by Macey’s left hand and landed on the ground towards the front of the room.  After refusing the kind offer, she crossed her arms back and titled her head to the right with a stone look on her face.  “Really?  I give you money to go buy a new drink, and that’s the thanks I get?”  He asked, still sounding kind.

“Drop the act,” she demanded.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, ma’am,” Mr. Keeda replied in his usual friendly tone.

“What the hell are you doing here, Kaiser?!”  She demanded to know.

“Would you keep your voice down?”  He insisted.  “If you’re going to yell at me, at least do it quietly, and if you must know, unlike you, I’m doing my job.”

“Since when did you become a high school psychology teacher?”  She asked with a quiet voice clearly filled with anger.

“I never said I was,” he countered her.  “I’m doing what Queen Enyo told me to do – I’m monitoring you.”

“Monitoring me?”  She scoffed.

“You heard me,” he confirmed.  “I told you I was done bothering you about assassinating the Saiyans, and I am, but I’m still a loyal assassin.  I do what the queen tells me to do.”

“And they just happened to have an opening at the school that I’m undercover at?”  She asked with disbelief.

“No,” he chuckled.  “Let’s just say that Mrs. Toma found some un-expecting wealth.”

“Wow,” she scoffed.  “The lengths you go to just so you can make my life miserable, huh?  I come here to get away from you nagging me day in and day out, and now I’m stuck with you for the next sixth months, two days a week for an entire hour,” she said in a harsh whisper.

“I’m not here to make your life miserable, Dea,” he began.

“Macey,” she replied bluntly.

“Dea,” he insisted.  “I’m not here to make your life miserable.  I’m here because I was given the mission to monitor you.”

“You could have monitored me from anywhere,” she pointed out.  “Why the hell would you choose here?  The one place I come to get away from you?  You don’t even know the first thing about teaching.”

“Because, Dea,” he began harshly.  “Whatever you may think, I actually do read a bit in my free time when I’m not babysitting you.  I know more than you think I do about this subject.  For instance, you refused to let go of the crushed can when I went to grab it because it gave you a sense of control when you felt like you didn’t have any due to me being here.  How’s that?  Am I close?”  He said with anger starting to get in his voice. 

“What does that even have to do with anything?”  She replied in a harsh, aggravated whisper.

“I’m here to study you,” he finally admitted in a sharp whisper. 

“Study me?”  She scoffed.  “Is that why you put me with the half-breed and his clearly pmsing girlfriend?”

“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” he said in a mocking tone.

“That’s my line,” she bluntly replied.

“Well, get used to it little sister, and you forgot to thank me for getting rid of that dead assassin for you the other night,” he said as he walked back towards the front of the room and sat at his desk.  In frustration, Macey gathered her things and headed for the door, but halted in her tracks when her brother began to speak again.  “Oh, I forgot to mention, you’ll be seeing me a lot more than twice a week…roomie,” he said with a smirk.  As anger filled her, she slammed the crushed can into the trash can, and once she walked out of the door, she slammed it behind her so that it echoed in the hallway.

“I hate him,” she began to mumble to herself quietly as she stormed down the stairs.  “I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.”

            I hate him, she continued to think as she walked down the street towards her warehouse.  Does he exist just to make me miserable?

“Well, maybe if you had done your job in the first place, you wouldn’t be dealing with this right now,” the voice tried to say in a serious tone but ended up breaking out into laughter.  While walking down the road, she attracted some unwanted attention due to her clearly angry demeanor.

“Hey,” a man said as he walked up next to her.  “Macey?  Is that you?”  He asked.

“Not now,” she said angrily through her teeth.

“Are you alright?”  He kept pushing her as he tried to figure out what was going on with her.

“I said ‘not now’, Goku,” she replied coldly.

“Hey, if you need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me,” he told her kindly.  Because of his refusal to leave her alone, she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned to her left to face him.

“What,” she said demandingly.  “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, that’s all,” he said calmly.

“No, okay,” she broke with anger in her voice.  “For your information, I’m not.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”  Goku suggested.  “I’m a pretty good listener.”

“Hmph,” she scoffed.  “It’s not of any concern to you.  I just want to go home.  I’ll see you this weekend.”

Is it really too much to just go home, get there before Kaiser, watch some television and…oh wait, that’s right.  SON OF A BITCH!  She yelled in her head.  Screw it.  I’ll go buy another.  I meant to do it yesterday.

“Hang on,” she said a few seconds later just as Goku was going to walk away.  “If you really want to help me, then will you help me carry home a new television?  Mine broke the other day.”

“Sure thing!”  He replied happily.  “I’d love to.”

            Once she located the nearest electronics store, The New Circuits, one her phone, she used her GPS map to lead them there.  Once inside, she looked around for about ten minutes before deciding that she didn’t like any of the televisions that they had.

“You didn’t like any of them?”  Goku asked as he walked next to Macey and headed towards the door.

“No,” she said quietly.  “None of them are big enough.  My last one was fifty-five inches.” 

“Sheesh,” he said as the two of them headed out of the door.  “Your parents must make a lot for you to be spending money like that.”

“If only,” she scoffed.  Once at the automatic door, it opened up and Goku walked out first, and Macey followed, but Macey’s heart dropped at the sound that went off when she started to walk through – the anti-theft detectors that lined the inside of the automatic doors.

But I haven’t stolen anything, she told herself as the loss prevention officer walked towards her.

“Ma’am, I need to search your bag,” he said in a serious voice.

No, I can’t let him search my bag, she thought as her heart rate began to speed up and her breathing shallowed.  “But I haven’t stolen anything,” she told him, trying to get him to walk away.  “You just saw us walk in and walk around for a few minutes.”

“Well then, you won’t mind me searching your bag,” he said professionally.

“Goku,” she said as she turned towards Goku who was a few feet ahead of her out of the door.  “Can’t you tell him that I didn’t steal anything?”

“I know you didn’t,” Goku confirmed.  “He’s just doing his job.”

After a few seconds of deliberation with herself she finally realized that there was no way out of the situation.

“Fine,” she said quietly as she handed the officer her messenger bag, sounding defeated.  “Here you go.”

“There, now that wasn’t so hard was it?”  The officer said in a kind voice.  As soon as he opened the bag, he immediately dropped in on the ground.

“What is it?”  The clerk behind the counter asked as the officer stepped away in fear.  Goku curiously stuck his head back in and tried to see what had spooked the officer, but eventually found himself having to come completely back inside to look at it. 

“What do you have in there?”  He asked as he walked over to Macey.

“Call the cops!  Now!”  The prevention officer demanded of the clerk, and without question the clerk did as she was told.  Overcome by curiosity, Goku knelt down to look at what was so serious about the contents of her messenger bag, and once he saw what was in it, he stood back up and looked at Macey, who had annoyance all over her face, in shock.  Inside her bag were her usual weapons: her needles with the deadly drug in them, her silenced pistol, her garrote, and two kunai knives.

“Macey, why do you have all that?”  Goku asked with suspicion.  His question, however, went unanswered.  Before any of them knew it, cops had the building surrounded, and two officers came in.  One officer took her books, set them on the floor, and patted Macey down.  After concluding that she was clear, the other officer put her hands behind her back and lead her out to the cop car – leaving Goku and the others in pure shock.

 

**Assassin Rule #6.)**   Never allow your emotions to outweigh your logic.


	6. Chapter 6 - I'm Not an Assassin Anymore?

This is just great, Macey thought sarcastically as she was led to one of the patrol cars sitting in front of the store.  The abundance of cop cars drew a crowd that Macey didn’t want to have to look at.  In the crowd were people of all ages – from young to old, and some of them she even recognized from her school.  She especially recognized two of them – Gohan and his girlfriend Videl.  The young couple watched with confused looks on their faces as the police officer opened the back door and sat Macey down inside.

“10-4,” the officer said into her radio as she went to close the door.  “Female, five-feet-five-inches tall, age fifteen, tan skin, average build, long purple hair, purple eyes, name is Macey Evans.”  As the officer closed the door, Macey began to fiddle with the handcuffs behind her back but stopped after a few seconds.  Moments later, she looked to her right and saw one of the officers hand her bag full of weapons to a detective and saw Goku standing outside holding her books and looking at her in the cop car.  A few minutes later, a different police officer got into the front seat of the car and began to drive Macey away from the scene. 

“So,” he said, breaking the awkward silence, “do you know your rights?”

“Are you going to question me?”  She said, sounding uninterested as she looked out of the passenger side window.

“Not officially,” the officer answered.  “I’m just curious as to why a girl like you has those kinds of weapons on her.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she said in her usual bored tone.

“Try me,” the cop said with a playful voice as he looked into the rearview mirror to look at Macey.

“I’d much rather not,” she answered as she continued to look out of the window.  How could I have screwed up like that?  She thought to herself as she stared out the window.  What kind of assassin just carries their weapons on them like that?

            “A stupid one!”  The voice in her head yelled.  “Seriously, Dea, what the hell were you thinking?!”

Shut up, she replied in thought.  I don’t need you beating me up over this as well.

After what felt like an eternity, the police car finally pulled into the garage of the Satan City Police Station.  Once the officer got out and pulled Macey out of the back, he led her inside and they began booking her.  First was her fingerprints, then was her picture, and then they handed her an orange jumpsuit to change into.  Because of the seriousness of her charges, she was treated like the adult prisoners.

            “Sorry, sweetheart,” one of the older police officers said, “but we have to escort you around in handcuffs.”  Without incident, Macey put her hands behind her back and allowed the older lady to put the handcuffs on her.  Afterwards, she led her to a holding cell with three other people in it.  One of them was a young woman with curly blonde hair who laid on the top bunk of the left bunk bed and appeared to be taking a nap.  Another was an older brown haired woman who was on the top bunk of the right bunk bed, and the third one was another young woman with long black hair who sat at the only desk and seemed to be drawing. 

            “Ain’t ya a little young to be in this prison?”  The young black haired woman asked as the police officer closed the door behind Macey.

“Hmph,” Macey replied as she headed straight for the bottom bunk of the right bunk bed. 

“Hey!”  The brown haired woman in the bunk above where Macey wanted to lay began.  “If Umi asks you’s a question, you’s answer it!”

“If she doesn’t wanna talk, then she doesn’t wanna talk,” the blonde hair woman replied casually with her eyes still closed. 

That voice, Macey thought as she heard the blonde woman’s voice.  It’s sounds an awful lot like -.

“I’m Pax,” the blonde girl began to introduce herself, interrupting Macey’s thoughts as she sat up from her laid down position to look at the new comer.

“Pax,” Macey whispered as she looked at the girl.  After a few seconds of looking at Macey, Pax recognized her and jumped down from her bunk.

“Dea?!”  She exclaimed excitedly as she walked up to Macey.

“It’s Macey now,” she replied quietly.  “What are you doing here?”  She asked the blonde haired, blue eyed girl.

“What do ya think?”  She scoffed.  “I got caught,” she said as she took a seat on the bottom bunk on the side opposite of Macey.

“Legal or illegal?”  Macey asked curiously.

“The latter,” Pax replied quietly.  “What about you?  What’re you doing here?”

“Just a stupid mistake,” Macey said vaguely.

            “Must not have been just a stupid mistake,” Umi chimed in.  “Musta been bad if you’re sittin in here with the adults.”

“It doesn’t concern you,” Macey snapped at her.  “How long have you been here?”  She asked, turning her attention back to Pax.

“Since yesterday,” she answered quietly.  “I’m here waiting to be transported to a high maximum security prison.”

My God, Pax.  What happened to you?  Macey wondered.

“What’s with the scar?”  Macey asked as she noticed the scar on Pax’s left cheek.

“Oh,” Pax began quietly as she touched her scar, “it’s nothing.  Just from a fight.”

Over a contract, no doubt, Macey thought.

“Well, at least it makes you look badass,” Macey chuckled as she playfully punched Pax’s left shoulder.

“I’ve really missed you,” Pax said quietly as she rubbed her shoulder and looked down.  Macey could see the pain in her ice blue eyes as they tried to hold back tears.  “Things haven’t been the same.”

            “Oh, would you two just kiss and makeup already?!”  The brown haired woman scoffed with annoyance.

“Stay out of our business,” Macey barked back.

“Pax,” Macey began quietly as she grabbed Pax’s shoulders and bent down so that she could make eye contact, “it’s been over a year.  Not everything works out the way you want it to.”

“I know,” Pax said quietly, still looking down as she tried to hold back tears.  “It’s just hard when you feel all alone.”

“I know,” Macey said as she wiped away the one tear that Pax couldn’t hold back.  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.  For the next few hours, the two caught assassins laid down on the right bottom bunk and reminisced about the past until an officer showed up at the door and called for Macey to put her hands out of the slot to be handcuffed together.  She did as she was told and once the officer opened the door to escort her out, she said her final goodbyes to Pax.  The officer then led Macey down a long hallway and into an interrogation room where he sat her down in a cold steel chair and locked her handcuffs under the steel table that had a camera on the far right end of it.  To her right was a mirror that was clearly a two-way mirror, and all the walls around her were dark gray stone.  Knowing that there was probably a collection of detectives and police officers on the other side of the glass, she decided to sit there as if nothing was bothering her.  After a few minutes of letting her sit, a man dressed as a detective with red hair and red eyes came walking in through the door with a briefcase, folder and a clipboard. 

You have got to be kidding me, she thought as she looked at the detective with an unimpressed look.

            “Good evening, Ms. Evans,” the detective began.

And here we go, Macey thought to herself as she rolled her eyes.

“First thing’s first: I’m Detective Iwata,” the detective began.  “Are you aware of your rights?”  Instead of answering the question, Macey stared at the detective and tilted her head to the left.  “The quicker you answer my questions, the quicker this will be over, Ms. Evans,” the detective pushed.

“Yes,” she answered quickly through her teeth.

“I can tell that you won’t be easy to get through to, so tell me, what can I do to make you more likely to explain what happened?”  Detective Iwata asked her in a kind voice.

“Turn off the camera, turn off the audio, and block their view,” Macey said through her gritted teeth.

“Deal,” Detective Iwata agreed as he turned off the camera and pulled down the blackout curtain in front of the mirror.  “Okay, so,” he continued.  “What can you tell me about -,”

“Shut up, Kaiser,” Macey said bluntly.  Kaiser, Macey’s older brother who was playing detective tried to keep a straight face, but in the end, ended up busting out laughing. 

“What the hell, Dea?”  He laughed as he looked at his little sister in an orange jumpsuit handcuffed to the table.  “What were you thinking?  Man, you really will do some extraordinary things to get away from me, won’t you?”  He snickered, trying to hold back laughter.  Macey, however, was not humored.

“You done?”  She asked once her brother’s laughter seemed to subside.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said as he wiped away a tear from laughing so hard.

“What’re you doing here?”  She demanded to know.

“I honestly came here to help bust you out,” Kaiser said truthfully, “but it seems that it was all for no reason.”

“Huh?”  Macey said with a raised eyebrow.  “What’re you talking about?”

“You’ve made quite some good friends,” he said as he leaned over the table.  “The Saiyans are here to get you,” he tried to whisper seriously, but it was broken by a snicker.

“What do you mean ‘here to get me’?”  Macey questioned.

“They somehow posted your $2 million bail,” Kaiser told her.  “I just thought I’d mess with you for a bit.”

“Then why the hell am I still handcuffed here?!”  She yelled as she rattled the handcuffs.  “Get me out of here!”

“Fine, fine,” he said as he stood up and took a handcuff key out of his pocket.  “I know you can get out of these, so why are you making me undo them?”  He asked as he undid his sister’s handcuffs.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” she said as she rubbed her now free wrists.  Within a few seconds, she grabbed the clothes out of her brother’s brief case, turned transparent, and then changed her clothes, making sure to leave the jumpsuit on the floor.  “Oh, and if you really want to do something useful while you’re here, get Pax out of here,” she said as she headed for the door.

“Wait, Pax?”  Kaiser questioned before his sister could leave.  “As in, Pax Pax?  Pax your ex-,”

“Yes,” Macey cut him off.  “She’s supposed to be transferred to a maximum security prison.  She doesn’t deserve that.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Kaiser said seriously as he looked at his little sister who was walking out of the door.  “Oh, and Dea,” he continued, getting her attention and causing her to look back at him.  “You’re in the system now,” he told her.  “Your prints are in the database.  You do know what that means right?”

“What are you talking about?”  She asked him, honestly confused.

“If the C.I.A sees that “Macey Evans’” prints match your prints, then they’ll order an execution warrant,” he told her sternly.  “And you won’t get any more contracts.”

“What?”  Macey said in anger as she slammed the door closed and walked back towards her brother.

 

Assassin Rule #7.) Any assassin who is arrested and booked for a crime will have an execution order ordered by the C.I.A if the C.I.A finds out.  Execution orders are open to any assassin and can be completed at any time.  Assassins who have an execution order on them will no longer receive any type of contract.

 

“You heard me,” Kaiser said.  “Watch your back.”

“Just get Pax out of here.  I can take care of myself,” she said quietly as she reached for the door again and walked out of it.

“Anything for you, little sister,” Kaiser said as Macey walked out of the door and closed it behind her.  “You’re welcome,” he said quietly.

            I’m…I won’t be an assassin anymore? Macey asked herself as she walked down the hallway.  No, I have to do everything so that the C.I.A doesn’t find out about this.  After a few seconds of walking and thinking, she arrived in the main lobby.  In the lobby she was met with what seemed to be an entire family of Saiyans.  Well, what do ya know? She thought with a chuckle.  Three of my targets together in one room.  In the lobby, Goku and Gohan sat in the blue chairs that lined the walls and Vegeta stood against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

            “Hey, look who it is!”  Goku exclaimed as he saw Macey walk out into the lobby, successfully getting the attention of the other two Saiyans.

“Hey, Macey,” Gohan said as he stood up and walked towards her.  “What happened today?”

“It’s uh, a long story,” she said quietly as she felt a glare come from Vegeta.

There’s something familiar about her, Vegeta thought as he looked at the newly released assassin.

“Well, you can feel free to explain it over dinner,” Goku said nicely.  “Vegeta’s wife is cooking us all dinner tonight.”

“Seriously?”  She scoffed.  “You see me get arrested with a bag full of weapons, and then you get me out of jail and invite me to dinner?”

“Yeah, well, I think that everyone deserves a second chance,” Goku began to explain.  “You made a mistake, although it was a very strange mistake, and hopefully learned your lesson.  Besides, I’m not the one who bailed you out.  He is,” he said, pointing to Vegeta.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Vegeta bluntly said to Macey.  “I only did it so that I wouldn’t have be nagged for the rest of my life.”

“Don’t worry,” she scoffed.  I know the feeling, she thought.

            “Here, you go, Ms. Evans,” a police officer said as he walked up to her with a clipboard with a paper on it and a pen. “We just need you to fill this out with one hundred percent truth.”

“Sure,” she said with a shrug.  After all, it’s “Macey Evans” filling it out, not Dea Tacita.  Let’s see now, she thought as she held the pen in her left hand and began to fill out the paper. 

 

**Full name:** Macey Astraea Evans

**Date of Birth:** April 7 th

**Age:** 15

**Address:** 97241 Main Street, Apartment 329

**School:** Orange Star High School

**Email:** evansm15@orangestar.com

**Phone number:** 988-456-2013

 

Macey filled out all of the information in complete truth except when she got to her parent/guardians section, she had to write the made up names that she came up with for them. 

 

**Mother:** Storme Helen Evans

**Father:** Callum Odin Evans

 

Once she handed it back to the desk officer, she sat down in one of the blue chairs in between the standing Vegeta and sitting Goku with Gohan on the other side of Goku. The officer began to input her information, and all was going well until he went to put in her parents’ names. 

“Um, Ms. Evans?”  The officer said as he walked towards Macey with a raised eyebrow.  “Can you tell me what the names’ of your parents are?”

“Storme and Callum Evans,” she said quietly as she leaned her head back up against the wall.

“Are you positive that you spelled them correctly?”  He continued to question her.

“Yes,” she said with an annoyed sigh.

“I see, well, they aren’t showing up in any of our databases,” he told her.  “There’s not even a birth certificate for either of them.”

Dammit, she thought as she shot her head back up.  I forgot to forge their birth certificates when I made mine.

“Ma’am, you’re a juvenile,” he reminded her.  “I need the names of your parents in order to release you into their custody.”

After looking at the Saiyans who were giving her strange looks, she finally told the police officer somewhat of the truth. 

“I don’t have parents,” she said quietly.  “Never did.”  I guess it’s not really a lie, Macey told herself.  Macey Evans doesn’t really exist either.  “I’ve been on my own ever since I was eight,” she continued.  “I don’t know their names.”  Okay, now that might have been too much, she thought.

“I see,” the police officer said with care in his voice.  “Do you have anyone that would take custody of you?  If not, then we will have to send you to a foster home,” he told her.  “What about your friends here?”  He asked as he looked at the trio of Saiyans.

“No,” Macey began to shake her head.  “I don’t really think that’s-,”

“She’s more than welcome to stay with us,” a woman standing quietly in the door said as she walked over to the group.

“Bulma?!”  Vegeta exclaimed.  “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“She needs somewhere to stay, Vegeta,” Bulma replied.  “I can’t stand by and watch her be put into foster care when we have more than enough room.  Besides, she’s fifteen.  We’re only going to be responsible for her for two or three more years,” she said to him as she crossed her arms and stared at him.

            “How much closer do you need to get to the Saiyans for you to assassinate them?!”  The voice in her head yelled.

Shut up, she replied quickly and casually in her head.

“So, what do ya say?”  Bulma said as she looked at Macey.  “How about it?”

My God, that woman sounds annoying, but I would literally be living with one of the full bloods and a half breed, she thought as she looked at the annoyed full blooded Saiyan.  I could learn everything they know without even having to leave the house.  “Sure,” she said quietly.

“Fantastic,” the officer said as he walked back to his desk and grabbed another form.  “If I could get you to print and sign your name here,” he said to Bulma as he handed her a pen and pointed to a line with an “x”.  Once Bulma signed, he turned to Vegeta.  “And if I could get you to print and sign here,” he said as he pointed to the other line with an “x” and handed him the pen.  With an aggravated grunt, Vegeta reluctantly signed the paper – officially making Macey a Brief.

            “Well, alright then,” the officer said as he took the pen and paper back.  “Here is a copy of her information,” he said as he handed Bulma a paper that had all of Macey’s information on it, “and here is your court date and your belongings.  Obviously you can’t have your contraband, but this gentleman here was kind enough to hand us your textbooks,” he said as he handed Macey a piece of paper on top of her textbooks.  “Be at the court house at 8 AM on November 24th.  If you’re not there, then a warrant will be issued for your arrest.  If there are no questions, you’re free to go.”

“Gee, thanks,” she scoffed as she headed for the door followed by the other Saiyans and Bulma.

“Hey,” Bulma said as she caught up to her.  “Do you need to get your things?  Like your clothes and stuff?”

“I’ll walk,” she coldly replied.

“I don’t think you realize how far away West City is,” Bulma chuckled.  “Besides, I’m now legally your mother.”

“Let’s get a few things straight,” Macey snapped.  “You are not my mother, and he is not my father.  You didn’t make me; you didn’t have me.  You’re merely giving me a place to live because that was the only way I was going to get out of there without getting into any more trouble, and for that, yes, I thank you, but I’ll only tell you once – leave me alone,” Macey said sternly as she began to walk down the sidewalk towards her warehouse – leaving the other four in silence.

Hmph, stubborn, Vegeta thought with a smirk as he stood in the background watching the situation with his arms crossed. 

“Well, guys,” Goku said, breaking the awkward silence.  “I’ll meet you at Capsule Corp then if Bulma’s still cooking.”

“Yeah, I’m headed there now,” Bulma said as she walked towards her car.  “I think she just needs time to adjust.  I have her old address right here if I need to come find her,” she said as she looked at the paper in her hand.  “Are you coming, Vegeta?”  She asked her husband as he stood leaning against the building.  Without answering, Vegeta took to the sky and headed away from the police station and opposite the direction of Capsule Corp.  “Guess that answers that,” Bulma said quietly as she got in her car.

            When Macey finally got back to her warehouse, she found that it was completely empty.  I hope Kaiser is helping Pax get out of there, she thought as she closed and locked the door behind her.  She then looked around the warehouse and then went transparent to see if her brother was hiding out in the main room.  Good, it’s nice and quiet, she thought as she undid her transparency and leaned against the door.  Just the way I like it.  Macey dropped her books on the coffee table and walked into the kitchen area to look for something to eat.  After a few minutes of looking through her pantry, refrigerator, and freezer, she finally found some stuffed green peppers in the freezer.  She preheated the oven to 325 degrees and once it was preheated, she put the six stuffed green peppers in the oven for an hour.  While she waited for her peppers to cook, she changed into her pajamas, sat on the futon, and began to work on her homework.  When her peppers had twenty minutes left on the timer, she heard a knock at the door. No, no, no, no, she thought as she dropped her pencil and put her head in her hands.  A few seconds later, there was another knocked followed by a slightly familiar voice.

“Open up!”  A man with a deep voice yelled.

Are you joking right now, she thought as she got up from the couch and quickly opened the door so that only her face could be seen.

“What’re you doing here?”  She said with annoyance as she looked at Vegeta, her new legal father, standing on the other side with a large box under his arm.

“Just open the door,” he demanded, beginning to sound impatient.  After a few seconds of silence, she let out a sigh and did as he told her.  When she opened the door, Vegeta walked in and sat the big box on the large, blue area rug on the other side of the coffee table from the futon.

“How did you find me?”  She asked as she locked the door and crossed her arms as she watched him open the box.

“It really wasn’t that difficult,” he said as he pulled styrofoam out of the box and threw it on the floor.  “I followed you from the police station.”

Don’t know why I should be surprised, Macey thought as she watched him pull a large, black, flat object out of the box.  He is a Saiyan after all.

“Is that -?”  Macey began before being cut off by Vegeta.

“Yes,” he said bluntly.  “You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t ask you to do that,” she said, slightly offended as she sat down on the couch and watched him put it up on the wall where her previous television was.

“Yeah, well, Kakarot told me how you were going to get a new one because yours broke, so I figured that I’d get you one so that you’ll talk to me,” he said as he finished hooking up her cable box to the television.

“Kakawho?”  She questioned with an eyebrow raised.

“Goku,” he said quickly.  “Or whatever you call him.  Kakarot is his real name.”

Guess I don’t know everything about the Saiyans, Macey thought as she watched Vegeta set up the remote.

“So what do you mean ‘get me to talk to you’?”  Macey scoffed, completely ignoring the fact that she had just learned.

“What are you?”  He asked nonchalantly and he finished setting up the remote and set it on the coffee table.

“Hmm,” she began.  “Hungry, annoyed, confused, aggravated.  I don’t know, take your pick,” she said in her usual sarcastic tone.  “And just a little advice,” she continued as she stood up from the futon and began to make her way to the kitchen, “the next time you want me to talk to you, don’t try to bribe me.  You’re taking this “father” thing a little too seriously.”

“Sit back down,” he commanded her as he blocked her from going to the kitchen.

“Hmph,” she said with a slight chuckle and a cocky smirk before going to sit back down on the futon.  “Oh, wow,” she chuckled as she leaned back with her arms crossed and closed her eyes.  “My first lecture by my new father.  This should be good,” she scoffed.

“I’m not here to lecture you,” he said sternly as he stayed standing where he was.  “I don’t care what you do, but I do want to know what you are.”

“I’m just a girl who got into a little bit of trouble,” Macey said with a sigh.

“You and I both know that’s not true,” Vegeta countered.  “I know you’re not human.”

“Hah,” she chuckled.  “Why do you care?”

“You don’t need to worry about it,” he said as he started to get more aggravated with her stubbornness.

She’s so damn stubborn!  Vegeta thought.  Why do I feel like I’ve met her?

“Look,” she sighed as she continued to lean back.  “Even if I were to tell you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Would you believe that I’m the prince of a warrior race called “The Saiyans”?”  Vegeta asked her bluntly.

“Yes,” she scoffed.  “I know all about you.  I know Gohan and Goku are Saiyans as well.  I also know about the other two half breeds – Goku’s son, Goten, and your son, Trunks.  I know that you came from Planet Vegeta and that your father was the King of all the Saiyans,” she rambled off like it had be memorized, which unknown to Vegeta’s knowledge it had been.  “How’s that?”  She asked as she sat back up and looked at him.  “Am I close?”

“Where did you learn all that?”  Vegeta questioned with a little bit of shock in his voice.

“Goku,” she answered with a chuckle.  “He told me all that when I trained with him and Gohan.”      

Technically, Macey wasn’t lying because Goku had told her everything when she trained with them, but she had already known all that from her years of studying the Saiyans.

“Listen to me,” Vegeta said in a slightly calmer voice as he looked at Macey.  “I know you’re not human.  You know you’re not human.  Nothing you say will leave this room,” he assured her.

“Well,” Macey began, “even if I wanted to tell you, I couldn’t,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

“Can you tell me what happened to the old television?”  Vegeta questioned her.

“Hah,” she snickered.  “That would require me telling you what I am, now wouldn’t it?”

“You’re probably the most stubborn person that I’ve ever met besides Bulma,” Vegeta said as he scoffed and shook his head.  “Well, come on,” he said as he headed towards the door.

“Uh, where are we going?”  She asked in confusion.

“To the house,” Vegeta answered bluntly as he began to open the door.  “It’s either you come with me or you’ll have to deal with Bulma coming to get you when I tell her where you’re really living.”

“I can’t leave right now,” she argued.  “I have food in the oven.  It should be done in a few minutes.”

“Fine,” he said as he closed the door back and stood against it with his arms crossed.  “Then we’ll go after you get done eating.”

“Thanks for the new T.V,” she said quietly as she grabbed for the remote and looked at the obviously expensive gift on the wall.  Vegeta didn’t say anything but utter a grunt as he looked at the show playing on the screen.

What are you?  He wondered as he looked at the screen but not actually paying attention to it.  What is this feeling?

After about five minutes of silence between the two, the oven timer went off, and Macey went to get her stuffed peppers.  Once she got the six peppers onto a plate, she grabbed a fork, a cup of water, and headed back over to the futon.

“Do you want one?”  She quietly asked as she began to eat her second pepper. 

“Sure,” Vegeta said quietly after a few seconds of looking at the peppers.  Maybe if I try to bond with her she’ll tell me what I want to know.  After all, she is a female, Vegeta told himself as he walked over and sat on the futon next to Macey.  “Are they good?” He asked as she got up and went to the kitchen to get him a fork.

“They’re my favorite food,” she answered as she walked back and handed him the fork.  As Vegeta took a bite out of one of the peppers, he tasted the spicy and salty taste of the ground beef, salt, pepper, bell peppers, rice, tomatoes, and tomato sauce.  “So?”  Macey said in anticipation as she watched him eat it.  “What do ya think?”

“That’s amazing,” he said honestly as he went for another bite.

“Told ya,” she chuckled as she went for another bite and looked at her new T.V.

Come on, Vegeta, he thought to himself as he tried to think of how to start small talk with her.  This is the only way to get her to tell you what she is.

“So,” he began quietly, “still won’t tell me what you are?”  He asked.

“Wow,” she chuckled, “and you say I’m the stubborn one.”

“Look,” he began as he set his fork down on the plate.  “You’re going to be living with us until you’re at least eighteen,” he reminded her.  “I think at least I should know what you are.  They may not have caught onto the fact that you aren’t human, but I have.”

“Ugh,” she scoffed as she stood up from the futon and began to walk towards the bathroom.  “Hang on a sec.” Once she was in the bathroom, she turned transparent to make sure that her brother wasn’t hiding out and listening to them.  Good, she thought as she cleared the bathroom, he isn’t in here. 

“Look,” she said as she walked back out of the bathroom and closed the door.  “I can’t tell you what I am because I’m not so sure myself anymore,” she said quietly as she sat back down on the futon.

“What do you mean?”  Vegeta asked as he continued to eat.

“I need you to promise me that this doesn’t leave us,” Macey said in seriousness.

“I have no desire for telling anyone anything,” Vegeta assured her.  “I only want to know for my own sake.”  Without saying a word, Macey got back up, walked over to the counter furthest to the left, opened the right panel door, reached her hand underneath, opened a secret compartment, and pulled out a collection of red folders.  As she counted and made sure that there were five of them, she took a deep breath and slowly walked back over to her new legal father.  Once she made it back over to the futon, she dropped the folders on the table in front of Vegeta, gave him the signal to hang on a second, walked over to the dresser, pulled out all of her assassin gear and dropped it on the floor to Vegeta’s left.

“There you go,” she said as she motioned for Vegeta to start looking at everything and went to sit back down on her side of the futon.  “If you’re as smart as you think you are, then try to figure it out for yourself,” she said quietly as she went back to eating.


	7. Chapter 7 - You're Going Completely Rogue

_Target_ , Vegeta said to himself as opened up the top red folder that Macey had set down in front of him and looked at the top of the first piece of paper.  Underneath the red words was a picture of Goku staring at him, and underneath the picture the following information was listed:

 

**Name:** Son Goku

**Address:** 58N 018, 439 East District

**Sex:** Male

**Race:** Saiyan

**Children:** Son Gohan, Son Goten

**Spouse:** Chi Chi

**Reward Total:** $100,000

 

As Vegeta flipped through the other folders, he saw all of the other Saiyans’ information listed.  After he finished looking at the folders, he bent down and grabbed the gear that Macey had dropped on the floor next to him.  Among the pile were her black spandex turtle neck shirts with gloves built into them, her black half-face mask, her black spandex pants, her black boots with gray straps, her gray and black belt with the leg straps, and her arm straps that had bags to hold her needles.  He also looked at all of Macey’s weapons including her kunai knives, her needles, garrotes, her bow and arrows, and her twin daggers. 

            “So,” he began as he looked at and held one of her daggers and looked at the blade.  “You’re a hitman?”  He casually asked.

“Assassin,” she corrected him, “and aren’t you the least bit shocked?”  She asked him, sounding offended.

“Should I be?”  He asked as he raised an eyebrow and looked up to her on his right.

“Wow,” she scoffed.  “You find out that the person you’re sitting next to is supposed to kill you, your son, Goku, and his children, and you just sit there calmly?”

“Because I know you could never kill any of us,” he said with a cocky smirk as he set the dagger down on the coffee table.

“What?”  She said, taken back and slightly offended.  “You don’t think I could kill you?  I could kill you before you even knew what hit you.”

“So then why haven’t you done it?”  He sighed in annoyance and he turned his body completely towards her.  “If you’re so sure of yourself, then surely you would have done it by now.  Or are you too afraid that you’ll fail?”

            At the sound of Vegeta’s accusation, Macey’s anger began to rise and her eyes began to glare through him.

“I have my reasons,” she said through her now gritted teeth.

“Oh yeah?”  Vegeta chuckled as he turned his attention back towards the weapons.  “Tell you what,” he began as he picked up one of each of the weapons and set them on the coffee table.  “I’ll give you one chance to collect one of those $100,000 rewards.”

“What are you talking about?”  She scoffed.

“Come at me with everything you have,” he said as he finished laying out the weapons.  From his left to right was a dagger, a garrote, a kunai knife, and arrow, and a needle with her drug in it.  “I promise I won’t move,” he assured her.  “I’ll stay right here.”

“And when I get you?”  She asked.

“You won’t,” he said with a cocky smirk.

“So you’re really just going to sit there?”  She asked quietly as she looked at the weapons in front of her and then at the relax demeanor of her legal father.

“That’s right,” he said confidently as he laid his right ankle over his left thigh and crossed his arms.

“I’m not going to do it,” Macey finally said after a few moments of silence, causing Vegeta’s smirk to return.

“Hah,” he said as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.  “I see.  So, you’re just cowardly assassin with a hubristic personality,” he said with a chuckle.  No sooner than he got the words out of his mouth, Macey had quickly jumped up, grabbed the needle – the weapon closest to her, and before Vegeta knew it, the clear fluid that was inside it was being forced into his right carotid artery.  What the hell?  He thought as he looked at Macey’s left hand holding the needle to his neck.

“You shouldn’t have underestimated me,” she said in his ear as the last of the fluid left the needle and entered his blood stream.  After waiting the usual two seconds that it takes for The Reaper to kill its target, Macey found herself in shock and disbelief, and Vegeta found himself confused when he was still alive.

            _What?_ Macey thought to herself as she stood back up and looked at the Saiyan who was still alive, breathing, and sitting on her futon.  The Reaper has never failed.  Ever.  He should be deader than a doornail right now.

“So uh, that’s it?”  Vegeta said curiously as sat up and rubbed the tiny drop of blood off of his neck.

What is going on?  Macey continued to think as she dropped her empty syringe on the floor.  He’s a Saiyan; it should have killed him already.

“So,” Vegeta chuckled.  “It’s as I said – a hubristic personality.”

“What are you?”  Macey asked quickly and bluntly as she completely ignored Vegeta’s repeated insult and stood standing right in front of him.

“What’re you talking about?”  Vegeta scoffed.  “You know what I am.”

“Don’t lie to me,” she said in the same tone as she glared at him.

“What’s your problem?”  Vegeta asked, beginning to sound aggravated.  “I told you that you wouldn’t be able to kill me,” he reminded her.

“The Reaper has never failed – not once,” she began as she continued to glare at him.  “Ever,” she emphasized.

“The what?”  Vegeta asked curiously.

“It’s never failed,” she repeated quietly, ignoring his question as she went to pick up another one of her needles.  Out of desperation and before Vegeta could see, she jammed another one of her needles into the other side of his neck.  And once again, after two seconds passed, and then thirty, the Saiyan was still alive.

“Are you done yet?”  He asked with annoyance in his voice and he wiped away the blood on the left side of his neck.  “This is getting annoying.”

“Why aren’t you dying?”  She asked quietly as she looked at the Saiyan with pure shock and held the second empty needle in her right hand.

“Well, you’re fast,” Vegeta said casually.  “I’ll give you that.  As far as your effectiveness to kill me goes – it’s pretty much zero.”

“This isn’t possible,” she continued to quietly ramble on and ignore Vegeta’s insults.  “This shouldn’t be possible.”

“What?”  Vegeta chuckled.  “Is your false pride gone now that you’ve realized how powerless you are?”  He asked with a smirk.

“No,” she said quietly, seemingly being pulled out of her rambling.  “You should be dead,” she repeated once again.  “Something’s not right.”

“Or maybe whatever’s in those needles isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Vegeta suggested.

“No,” she denied quietly, still in shock. “It’s never not worked.  It always works within two seconds at most,” she insisted.

“Well,” Vegeta said as he began to stand up and head towards the door.  “I don’t know what to tell you.  Maybe you got a bad batch.”

“No,” she countered.  “I make it myself.”  Why the hell didn’t it work?  She wondered.  Is it possible that I screwed up my own recipe?  Could it be…?

“Then you clearly didn’t make it right,” Vegeta pointed out as he began to open the door.

“Wait a second,” she said, stopping him in his tracks. 

“Hm,” he grunted as he closed the door back and turned back towards her.

“Are you positive that you’re one-hundred percent Saiyan?”  She asked seriously.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  Vegeta counter-questioned, sounding extremely offended.  “Are you trying to say that I don’t know my own heritage?”

“Do you think that it could be possible that you have Assassin DNA?”  She asked still sounding serious as she ignored Vegeta’s offended tone.

“No,” he angrily confirmed as he leaned against the door and crossed his arms.  “What’s the big deal?  So, your little drug didn’t work.  Can’t you just admit that I was right?”  He said, sounding annoyed.

“I make this drug from an Assassin recipe that’s been effective for centuries,” she began as she started to walk towards him with another full needle in her left hand.  “The only way that it wouldn’t work on you is if you have Assassin DNA in your body.”

“Fine,” Vegeta sighed as he rolled his eyes.  “I’ll play along.  What on Earth are you talking about?”

“Watch,” she said as he jammed the full needle into the left side of her neck and forced the liquid in it, and just like with Vegeta, nothing happened.  “I altered the recipe by adding a few drops of my blood so that anyone who has Assassin DNA isn’t affected by it if they are accidently injected with it.  Because I’m an Assassin, I’m immune to it, just like you apparently are.”

“Then perhaps you shouldn’t have altered it,” Vegeta suggested.

“No,” she shook her head.  “I’ve been altering it for as long as I’ve been making it,” she insisted.  “I used it last month on a target, and it worked normally.”

“Well then,” Vegeta began with a sigh.  “Are you sure that you’re one-hundred percent Assassin?  If you used your blood to make it, and it’s useless against someone with Saiyan DNA, like me, then perhaps you have Saiyan blood in your veins.”

            At the sound of Vegeta’s bold suggestion, Macey found herself at a loss for words, and dropped the third empty syringe on the floor beside her. 

“Move,” she quietly commanded as she walked up to Vegeta who was still leaning against the door.  “I need to get out of here.”

After glaring down at her for a few seconds, he moved without argument and let her pass.  Once he had moved away, she opened the door, turned transparent, and began to head off into the bustling city wearing only her pajamas which consisted of a long sleeve black shirt, gray sweat pants, and bare feet and leaving Vegeta to wonder where she had disappeared to so quickly.

Strange, Vegeta thought as Macey disappeared into the cold night.  Deciding not to waste his time in looking for her, he closed the door back and walked back over to the futon and looked at the high school textbooks on the table.  “What teenager wants to do homework?”  He asked himself as he sat down and began to look through her psychology book that had notes scribbled in it with nearly illegible handwriting.  As he flipped through the book, he saw short notes scribbled by some articles.  Some of the notes consisted of words such as “interesting” and “do more research on this” by terms or sentences that were circled throughout the pages.  After he finished flipping through her psychology book, he opened up the book underneath – her math book, more specifically – physics.  “Wow,” Vegeta said quietly to himself as he saw how much she wrote on each page.  Contrary to the psychology book, her handwriting for the numbers and formulas was nearly perfect.  “Even the extra credit questions?”  He questioned as he saw that every page of extra credit problems was completely filled out.  Why wouldn’t she turn these in?  He wondered as began flipping to the back of the book.  From Trunks’ school books, he knew that the answers were usually in the back of the books, but once he got to the page where the answers were supposed to be, he realized that the pages had been ripped out.  “Hmph.  I get it,” he said quietly as a smirk came across his face, and he closed and set the physics book back down on top of the psychology book. 

            Vegeta turned his attention to the cell phone of Macey’s and let out an annoyed sigh as he went to pick it up.  I suppose I should cover for her this one time, he told himself as he turned the screen on and went to the dial pad.  After typing in a total of ten numbers, a voice picked up on the other line – Bulma’s

“Macey?!”  Bulma exclaimed as Vegeta distanced the phone away from his ear.  “Is that you?!  Where have you been?!  I’ve been worried sick about you!  Like it or not, you’re now legally in my custody, and I think that I-,” she continued to yell before being cut off by Vegeta.

“It’s me,” Vegeta said in an annoyed tone in reply as he kept the phone away from his ear.

“Huh?  Vegeta?”  She said in a suspicious and much quieter tone.  “What’re you doing with Macey’s phone?”

“She fell asleep at her apartment, and I’m going to stay with her until the morning,” he began to lie.  “We’ll see you tomorrow.  I’ll bring her to Capsule Corp once she gets out of school.”

“Okay,” Bulma sighed in an almost disappointed way.  “Just make sure she’s alright.  I’m sure she still has a lot to adjust to.”

“I’m sure she does,” he replied nonchalantly.  “I’ll have her there tomorrow.”

“Okay.  Thank you, Vegeta,” Bulma replied in a quiet and positive voice.  However, instead of a reply, Vegeta merely let out a small grunt and hung up the phone.  Great, he thought sarcastically as he set the phone back down on the coffee table.

 

…

 

            I don’t get it, Macey thought as she walked transparently through the streets of the dark, cold city in almost a drunken way due to being exhausted from running so far and so fast and using her transparency the entire time.  As she made her way down Sunrise Road, a road that was about twenty blocks from her warehouse, she used the tall buildings to help keep her on her feet and moving.  It doesn’t make sense.  There’s no way he could still be alive.  The Reaper always works – always. 

“Maybe you aren’t as strong as you like to believe you are,” the voice in her head began to ridicule her. 

No.  Shut up, she replied in thought.  You’re a liar.  All you’ve ever done is lie to me.

“You’re wrong, my dear Dea,” the voice said in almost a menacingly way.  “You forget, don’t you?  I am part of you; therefore, you’re lying to yourself.”

No, you’re not, Macey insisted.  If you were part of me, then you wouldn’t be trying to pull me towards your desires.

“Haven’t you ever stopped to think that maybe I feel the exact same way?!”  The voice loudly yelled at her, causing her to put her hands over her ears – something she hadn’t done since she was a child.  “Perhaps you’re the voice in my head that’s trying to pull me towards your desires!”

That’s not true, she replied as tears began to fill her eyes.  I’m the real being – not you.  You’re just in my head.

“Oh really?”  The voice chuckled.  “And how can you be so sure of that?  You aren’t even really sure of what you are anymore, are you?”

Once she finally silenced the voice, she walked into an alleyway, leaned against the side of a building, and tried to figure out where she was.  Wonderful, she thought sarcastically as she realized that she didn’t recognize any of the building or streets around her.  Instead of the busy city she had become used to, she found herself in more of an industrial area – surrounded by factories shipping yards, and a few office buildings here and there.  Deciding that she was far enough away from Vegeta, she undid her transparency for the first time since she left her warehouse and slid down on the side of the building so that she was sitting with her back against the gray, brick wall, and her knees close to her chest.  As she leaned her head back to the wall behind her, she felt her eyes begin to get heavy and uncontrollably close, and as she sat in the dark alleyway, leaned up against the wall, she began to feel herself drift off into a deep sleep.

            “I can’t believe you,” a woman’s voice whispered – causing Macey to be pulled out of her sleep that she felt like she had only drifted into seconds ago.  Once she opened her eyes up, she looked straight ahead, and standing in front of her and looking down at her was Pax.  After taking a good look at Pax, she noticed that she was covered in blood, her skin was as pale as paper, and her orange prison jumpsuit that she was still wearing was torn up and splattered in blood.

“Pax?”  She said with a tired voice and shock on her face.  “What happened to you?”

“You did,” Pax replied coldly and with anger as she continued to glare down at Macey who was still sitting on the ground and leaning against the building.

Pax is never angry, Macey told herself as she looked back up at her.  “Pax, what’re you talking about?”  Macey asked curiously as she began to stand up to face her old friend.  Once she was halfway up, Pax grabbed her by her throat and pinned her against the wall as she stood inches away from her face.  There’s something wrong with her, Macey thought as she looked into Pax’s ice blue eyes that were filled with anger. 

“It’s always about you,” Pax began through her gritted teeth.  “It’s always about Dea Tacita or Macey Evans – whatever the hell your name is.”

“What’s always about me?”  Macey questioned seriously as she tried to loosen Pax’s tightening grip on her throat.  “Pax, please.  It’s me.  Come on,” she pleaded as she found herself unable to pry Pax’s hand away from her throat.

“Yes,” Pax replied quietly as she tilted her head to the right.  “It is you.  It’s always you!”  She yelled as she made her grip on Macey’s throat even tighter, causing Macey to have to fight unconsciousness.  “What’s wrong, friend?”  Pax said with a chuckle as she watched Macey struggle to stay awake.  “I would think that the strongest assassin could easily break out of this, wouldn’t you agree?”  She said in a mocking tone.

“Pax, please,” Macey pleaded as she struggled to stay conscious and keep breathing.  “I can help you.”

“Help me?!”  Pax replied with a chuckle and disbelief as she got closer to Macey’s face.  “You think you can help me?!  You’ve done enough already!”

“I’m sorry about us,” Macey said quietly, still struggling.  “I really am.  I didn’t mean to hurt you.  If I could take it back, I would.”

“You’re delusional if you think I’m still upset about that,” Pax replied, angrily.  “You must have a pretty big ego if you believe that you could be the source of someone’s rage.  No,” she continued as she hindered Macey’s ability to speak and breathe even more, “this isn’t about us.  This is about you being responsible for my death!”  Unable to speak, Macey looked at Pax with confused eyes and waited to Pax to continue speaking.  Her…death?  She wondered as she looked into Pax’s pale face.  I got her killed?  How could I have gotten her killed?  How could she be standing right in front of me if she were dead?

“You just had to involve yourself in my business, didn’t you?”  Pax continued once she was certain that Macey could barely breathe, much less speak.  “Because of you, your brother got me out of jail.  Because of you, I was released from the one place I felt safe at – where I felt like they couldn’t get me.  Because of you, I was released back out into the open world with no armor, weapons, or hideouts, and because of you, they found me only hours after I was released and carried out my execution order.  It’s your fault that I’m dead.  If only you had either carried out your mission to assassinate the Saiyans or died when that assassin attacked you, I would still be alive.”

How does…how does she know about that assassin coming after me?  Macey wondered as she continued her struggle for air.  Who could have told her about that?  Unless…

“I would still be alive,” Pax repeated, now sounding more hurt than angry as her ice blue eyes began to fill with tears.  “You can live the rest of your life knowing that you were responsible for my death, and I’m sure that down the road, many more lives will be lost because of you – just not the right ones – that is, unless someone kills you first.”  With her final words, Pax let go of Macey’s throat and vanished.  As soon as she vanished, Macey’s eyes opened fast and wide, and as she gasped for air, she realized that she was still sitting on the ground and leaning against the building.  Frantically, she looked all around her – up, down, left, and right to make sure that what had just happened wasn’t real.  With a sigh of relief, she turned her head back forwards and across from her to her right was a woman with a shopping cart who appeared to be homeless.  The woman looked to be in her forties and had long, unkempt, black hair.  Her eyes were onyx and she wore a red and blue hoodie, white boots, and black sweat pants.  

            “That must have been some nightmare,” the lady said quietly once Macey noticed her.

“Yeah,” Macey agreed quietly as she continued to cautiously move her head and look around to make sure that there was no one else there.  As she looked around, the lady stood up from where she was sitting and began walking towards Macey with her shopping cart.

“Here you go, child,” she said in a kind voice as she reached into her cart and pulled out a fuzzy, blue robe.

“What’s this?”  Macey asked as the woman handed her the robe.

“It’s getting colder out here,” the woman said as Macey looked at the robe.  “You’re much younger than I am – you need it more than I do.”

“But I didn’t ask for -,” Macey began before being cut off by the woman.

“You remind me of my husband and my son,” she said with a chuckle as she began to walk away.  “They never wanted a helping hand unless it’s was asked for.”

“Hey!”  Macey yelled as the woman neared the end of the alleyway and headed back out onto the road, effectively catching her attention and making her turn back around to look at the young Assassin still sitting on the ground.  “What’s this symbol on it?”  Macey asked as she pointed to an embroidered red symbol on the left chest side of the robe.

“It’s a family symbol,” the woman explained with a small smile.  “I was going to give that to my son when I found him, but I’ve come to accept that he’s no longer alive.”  Macey quickly looked back down to look at the strange blue symbol, and when she went to look back up at the woman, she had disappeared into the night.  As a gust of wind came, Macey stood up, and without hesitation, she put on the robe that had been given to her. 

Do I really want to go back to the hideout?  She asked herself as her face was hit with the cold air.  I’m sure that Vegeta has gone home, and at least I can have a hot shower and a warm bed.  Without a second thought, she began to figure out where she was, and once she did, she realized that she was a good twenty-five blocks away from her warehouse hideout, but nonetheless, she began to make her way back.  Could Pax really be dead, or what that really just a nightmare?  She wondered as she made her way down the dark and empty road and wrapped the fuzzy robe around her tightly and crossed her arms.  No, there’s no way that the C.I.A could have figured out that she was in there that quickly.  She was only in there for one, maybe two days if Kaiser really did get her out.  Even so, her prints are still in the system – just as mine are.  Maybe they could have matched them that quickly and someone could have already completed the execution contract on her.  Where’s Kaiser when I actually need him?

When Macey turned the corner to the street that her warehouse was on, she noticed a young boy sitting on the ground and shivering in the cold wind.  As she looked at the young child trying to generate body heat by rubbing his hands on his arms, her heart sank to the ground.  Pax meant the world to me, she told herself as she began to walk across the street and towards the boy.  If she really is gone, then it’s only right that I do what she would have done.  Once she got to the boy, he looked up to her and due to being nearly frozen, he was unable to speak; however, without saying a single word, Macey took the warm blue robe off of her shoulders, knelt down, and wrapped it around the young boy – instantly making a difference. 

            “Tha – tha – thank you,” he finally sputtered out as he wrapped himself up in the large robe, and without replying, Macey rounded the corner that led into the alleyway where her warehouse was.  Once she walked up to the door of her hideout, she twisted the knob to find that it was unlocked.  Really?  She thought with a scoff.  He couldn’t have locked it?  However, once she opened the door, she looked straight ahead to the futon to see Vegeta, her legal father, sitting with his elbows on the back of the futon and his head turned towards the television that had the news playing on it. 

“Well, finally,” he said as he turned down the volume and looked towards Macey who was locking the door behind her.  “It’s almost two in the morning.”  He said in a semi-serious tone.

“Don’t try to play “dad” with me,” she said bluntly as she walked towards her dresser, got clean pajamas, and then headed towards the bathroom.  As she entered the bathroom, Vegeta turned the volume back up and went back to watching the news.  Pax can’t be dead, she tried to convince herself as she stood in the hot shower and looked up as the water fell down on her.  I refuse to believe that.  There’s just no possible way that they could have gotten to her that quickly.  Once she was finished, she got dressed and headed back out into the main room where Vegeta was still sitting and watching the news.  “Don’t you ever leave?”  She asked in a smart ass tone as she walked towards the kitchen.

“They found a body in New Creek Park,” Vegeta replied casually – immediately catching Macey’s attention.  Her heart fell through the floor and breathing became almost impossible.

“A…body?”  She finally asked once she was able to catch her breath.

“Yeah,” Vegeta confirmed.  “You seem spooked.  I didn’t think an assassin would be scared over a dead body being found.”

“Shut up, and turn it up,” she demanded quickly as she sat down on the futon to Vegeta’s right and focused on the television.

            “…and the Satan City Police Department say that no positive identification can be made at this time, and there are no leads as to who might have killed her,” the news anchor said.  “And again, the police are urging the public to come forward if you recognize the victim,” he said as a sketch of the victim showed up on the screen – making Macey’s heart drop even more.  “Again, the victim is a young female, approximately sixteen years old, five feet, seven inches tall, and has light colored skin.  Her hair is long, curly, and blonde, and she has blue eyes.  She was found wearing a torn up, orange jumpsuit that greatly resembles the jumpsuits used at the Satan City Police Department, so authorities believe that she may have just been released.”

“Turn it off,” Macey commanded through her gritted teeth, clearly trying to hold back tears.

“What’s with you?”  Vegeta scoffed as he did what she said and turned to look at Macey who was clearly shaken up.  “What’s that on your neck?”  He asked as he saw a small bruise and pushed her hair aside to see the rest of it.  The full bruise on Macey’s neck went from one side to the other and was light in the center of her throat and darker on the sides where her carotid arteries were.

“So, it was real,” Macey whispered as she put her right hand up to the bruise on the right side of her neck.

“What was real?”  Vegeta asked curiously.  “Tell me what’s going on; that’s an order.”

“None of this would have happened if I had just killed you and the rest of the Saiyans like I was supposed to,” she said with anger as she turned towards Vegeta with tears in her eyes.  “If I had done what I was supposed to do, then I’d already be out of this city and on a new mission.  If it weren’t for me, then Pax wouldn’t be dead.”

“So then why didn’t you?”  Vegeta said in a demanding and angry voice as he glared at Macey.

“Because!”  She yelled and then stopped for a moment.  “Because, it was too easy,” she said quietly as she looked down and a tear dropped out of her eye and hit the floor.

“Too easy?”  Vegeta scoffed.

“There was no challenge in it,” she explained quietly as she continued to look down and tears continued to fall.  “I had four chances in one day to kill Gohan, and I didn’t take any of them.  I had even more opportunities to take out Goku and Gohan while I was training with them and didn’t take any then, either.  If I had just done it, then I wouldn’t have made friends with Gohan and his father, Kaiser wouldn’t have felt the need to go undercover at the school, and in turn, I wouldn’t have gotten angry, Goku wouldn’t have come with me to the store, I wouldn’t have forgotten about my weapons, and I wouldn’t have gotten arrested with them in front of Goku.  I wouldn’t have gone to jail, I wouldn’t have run into Pax, and I wouldn’t have convinced Kaiser to get her out.  If I had just done my mission, none of this would be happening.”

            “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Kaiser said bluntly as he came out of his transparent state as he stood by the kitchen entrance.

“What the…Who are you?!”  Vegeta exclaimed as she quickly stood up and faced Macey’s older brother.

“Kaiser,” he answered bluntly, “Dea’s older brother.”

“Dea?”  Vegeta questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Macey,” he corrected himself, “or whatever you call her.”

“They killed Pax, Kaiser,” Macey said in a quiet tone as she fought back tears.

“I know,” he said as he pushed his way past Vegeta, threw his arms around his little sister, and pulled her close to his chest.

“Does anyone wanna tell me what is going on?”  Vegeta asked in an almost demanding tone as he looked at the brother and sister in a close embrace.

“Stay out of this, Saiyan,” Kaiser snapped as he glared at Vegeta.  “This is all your fault.”

“They just dumped her in the park,” Macey said through her tears and gasps for breath.  “They just dumped her like she was trash.  She was my -,”

“I know,” Kaiser said, interrupting and consoling his sister as he laid his left cheek on top of her head and rubbed the back of her neck with his right hand which caused her to jump.

My fault?  Vegeta wondered as he stared at the Assassins.  What the hell does this kid mean that this is my fault?

“What happened to your neck?”  Kaiser asked quietly as he began to examine the large bruise that covered her neck. 

“It’s hard to explain,” Macey replied as he held her left hand up to the left side of her neck and looked down at the ground.  “I’m not even so sure myself.”

“We can bring your friend back, you know,” Vegeta butted in as he continued to stay to the side with his arms crossed.

“Really?”  Macey said with hope in her eyes as she pulled away from her brother and turned towards Vegeta.  “How?”

“Dea, don’t trust him,” Kaiser ordered as he grabbed Macey by the right shoulder and attempted to pull her back.  “You know what he is.”

“Kid, what’s your problem?”  Vegeta wanted to know.  “I just offered a way to bring back her friend.”

“I know what you are, Saiyan,” Kaiser said angrily through his gritted teeth as he walked towards Vegeta.  “You’re nothing but a murderous monster who thrives in taking the lives of the innocent.”

“Hmph,” Vegeta said with a smirk.  “Do you wanna test that theory?  I’d be more than happy to silence your jabbering mouth.”

“I would love nothing more,” Kaiser replied still filled with rage as Vegeta pulled him closer to his face, now standing only centimeters away from him, “but it’s not my job,” he added quietly.  “It’s her’s.”

“Would you two shut up for two minutes?!”  Macey yelled, causing Vegeta to throw Kaiser to the side and making the two to look towards her.  “How.  Can.  We.  Bring.  Pax.  Back?!”  She demanded to know, sounding angrier than she ever has.

“There are these things called “Dragon Balls”,” Vegeta began to explain to her.  “They can grant you any wish you want – including bringing someone back to life as long as they haven’t been dead for more than a year and haven’t died before.”

“Hah!”  Kaiser laughed.  “Do you really expect us to believe that magical balls from a dragon can bring someone back to life?”  He said, trying to antagonize Vegeta.  “You must be delusional if you think that’s a real thing,” he chuckled.  Roughly half a second after he got the words out of his mouth, Macey appeared in front of him and connected a left hook to his right cheek, knocking him to the ground. 

“Where do we get these Dragon Balls at?”  Macey asked as she stayed standing in the spot where she punched her brother from and looked at Vegeta with hope on her face. 

“There are seven of them,” Vegeta continued as he looked at the obviously hurt Assassin.  “They’re scattered all over the planet.  Once we collect them all, we can summon the dragon and ask for your friend to be brought back.”

“Dea,” Kaiser began quietly as he started to stand back up, “if these things really do exist, are you sure that you want to bring her back?”

“Of course I do!”  Macey snapped at him.  “After all, it’s my fault that she’s dead in the first place,” she said as she put her right hand up to the right side of her neck to feel the bruise.

“She would have been killed anyways,” Kaiser said as he stood back up and stood in the middle of Vegeta and his sister and formed a triangle shape.  “Even if you hadn’t gotten me to get her out of there, she would have been killed eventually.  You had nothing to do with her getting caught.”

“But not as quickly,” Macey said sternly as she glared at her brother.

“Are you positive that you’re not just doing this for your own conscience?”  Kaiser asked bluntly as he looked at his little sister.  “You and I both know that she went out with a blaze of glory.  We both know that her pride was still intact when she took her last breath, and that she wouldn’t have it any other way.  Would you really take that away from her?”  Without answering, Macey looked down to the floor and out of her right eye, a single tear fell and hit the blue rug.

Since when has Kaiser ever cared about pride?  Macey asked herself.  He always talks about how useless it is. 

“As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree with him,” Vegeta said quietly, causing Kaiser to look at him and making Macey continue to look down.

“She’s so angry at me,” Macey finally said quietly.

“You don’t know that,” Kaiser said as he walked over and place his right hand on her hunched over back.

“The bruises on my neck say otherwise,” Macey replied numb and almost monotone.  “I thought it was just a nightmare, but she actually attacked me in my sleep and nearly killed me.  She told me how it was my fault that she was dead, and then when I got back here, I saw it on the news that she had been found, but you’re right,” Macey continued and she picked her head up and looked at the two of them with determination in her eyes.  “She died with her pride, and she means too much to me for me to take that away from her, so I won’t bring her back, but I will figure out who killed her, and then I’ll kill them.”

“Are you still planning on using those wish things?”  Kaiser asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You should know me better than that by now, brother,” Macey said plainly as she walked to the pile of clothing on the floor next to the futon where she has dumped it for Vegeta to look at and picked out her assassin gear.  “Whoever killed Pax has to be strong and smart. Pax and I were pretty much evenly matched, and she was found and killed mere hours after being released from the jail, so I could very well be killed while hunting them down or in the fight against them, and if I’m going to be killed, then at least I’ll die knowing that I didn’t take any shortcuts and that I utilized every single bit of training and knowledge that I have.”

“But Dea,” Kaiser began as Macey turned transparent and quickly changed into her assassin getup.  “You have more assassins after you than Pax probably did.  You most likely have an execution order on you, and not to mention, there’s that other contract on you that the dead assassin had, and if it was a legit contract, then it will probably be given to another assassin on Sunday, and if it wasn’t legit, then who knows when someone else could take another shot at it.”

“I’m aware of that, Kaiser,” she replied as she came out of her transparency and started picking her weapons up and attaching them to her – her daggers on either side of her belt, her needles and lock picks in her bags, and her bow and bag of arrows on her back.  “I’ll be fine,” she continued as she put the half-face mask on and walked towards the mirror as she tied her hair back into a ponytail.

“You’re going completely rogue,” he told her sternly.

“I know what I’m doing,” she insisted, sounding mumbled underneath her mask.  She looked in the mirror, put her hands on her head, and within a matter of seconds, her hair and eye color was changed back to their normal black color.  “And if I catch either one of you helping me, I won’t hesitate to kill you,” she continued as she began to walk back over to the coffee table that stood in between the Saiyan and the Assassin.  “If I want or need your help, I’ll ask for it,” she informed them as she grabbed the key to her warehouse.

“Don’t wait up,” she said boldly as she turned to Vegeta who was standing towards the front door.

She looks so familiar, he thought as he stared into Macey’s stone face.  Even more so now than before.

“Dea,” Kaiser said, grabbing his sister’s attention.  “Please be careful.”

            Without saying another word, Macey turned back towards the door and took a deep breath in as she walked towards it.  Once she opened the door and walked outside, the other two watched as she jumped up and jumped and glided from building to building – getting further and further away with each jump.

“She’s headed towards the dump site,” Kaiser said quietly as he started to head for the door, but was stopped when Vegeta held his arm out to block him.  “What do you think you’re doing, Saiyan?!”  He demanded to know as he pushed against Vegeta’s arm.

“You heard her,” Vegeta said sternly.  “Don’t interfere with her mission.”

“What,” Kaiser scoffed.  “Are you actually afraid that a fifteen-year-old girl will kill you?  You know, my sister is strong, but she isn’t as strong as she likes to make people believe she is.”

“No,” he answered bluntly.  “She already tried, and she failed.”

“She what?”  Kaiser said in shock as he backed off of Vegeta’s arm.

“You heard me,” he said with annoyance in his voice.  “I don’t like to repeat myself.  She used one of those needles on me, and nothing happened.”

“The Reaper,” Kaiser said under his breath.  “She used The Reaper on you and nothing happened?  The Reaper kills the person who is injected with it about two seconds after it hits their blood stream.”

“I’m aware of that,” Vegeta replied as he closed the door and turned towards Kaiser.  “I need to test a theory,” he continued.  “Use one of your needles on me.”

“Trust me, Saiyan,” Kaiser said through semi-gritted teeth.  “If I had some, I would in a heartbeat.”

“What kind of assassin wouldn’t carry a weapon like that?”  Vegeta asked in disbelief.

“Only Dea and a select few assassins carry The Reaper,” Kaiser began to explain.  “The majority of us don’t use it because of its lethality, and if we are accidently stabbed with one, we’ll die.  I’m not a big fan of her carrying them, honestly.”

“Then you must not be aware of her altering the recipe for it,” Vegeta concluded. 

“She what?”  Kaiser asked in skepticism.

“When it didn’t work on me, she told me that she adds her blood into the recipe so that it won’t work on those with Assassin DNA; therefore, she came to the conclusion that I must have Assassin DNA, but that’s not true.  I’m a full-blooded Saiyan,” Vegeta began in a confident tone.  “She has Saiyan DNA doesn’t she?” He deduced with a cocky smirk.

“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,” Kaiser replied quickly as he glared at Vegeta.  “My sister is nothing like your kind.”

“I don’t know what you have against the Saiyans or why she was sent to kill all of us, but I should warn you that the Saiyan race isn’t something to be underestimated,” Vegeta snapped at Kaiser.

“Neither is the Assassin race,” Kaiser countered with clenched teeth, “and that’s exactly what Dea is – an Assassin.”

“At least half,” Vegeta agreed, “I’ll give you that.  I have to admit that I’ve seen some techniques that Saiyans aren’t capable of, but when I hear how she speaks, her personality and goals scream Saiyan, and if I’m being completely honest, looking at her is like looking into a mirror.”

“You listen to me,” Kaiser said angrily as he moved closer to Vegeta and stood with their faces almost touching, “you stay away from her, Saiyan.  Stay out of her life and her missions.  You’re lucky that she’s refusing to complete you and your friends’ assassinations.  If I were allowed to take her contract, I would carry it out in a heartbeat.”

“Allowed?”  Vegeta scoffed.  “So what?  You’re a slave, is that it?”

“No,” Kaiser countered, “I’m a loyal assassin to our queen.  I do as she wishes.”

“And I’m willing to bet that Macey doesn’t take orders so easily like you, does she?”  Vegeta argued.

“You can see that just as clearly as I can,” Kaiser replied.  “She refused to carry out her lifelong mission because of her selfish reasons, she only goes after contracts if the target fits her idea of a menace, and as you can see now, she’s gone completely rogue for another one of her selfish needs, and it’s all the Saiyans’ fault,” he said with hate in his eyes as he tried to fight back the urge to attack Vegeta.

“Tell me,” Vegeta snapped back.  “What is your issue with the Saiyans?  We have saved this planet and its people time and time again – and that includes you and your sister.”

“You may have saved this planet and its people, prince, but your race destroyed ours,” he said quietly as he backed away from Vegeta.

“What’re you talking about?”  Vegeta said in a shocked yet demanding voice as he kept looking at Kaiser who had backed away a few feet.

“Of course,” Kaiser scoffed in disbelief.  “I don’t know why I’m surprised that you don’t remember, but I remember.  I remember everything your people did to our race and our planet.”

“You’re right,” Vegeta agreed.  “I don’t remember.  The Saiyans destroyed countless planets and their people.”

“Then allow me to refresh your memory,” Kaiser began.  “Seventeen years ago, our race, the Assassins lived on a planet called Phonoi.  Planet Phonoi was about the size of this planet, but maybe a little bit larger, and it greatly resembled this world.  There were hundreds of thousands of guilds and many continents and countries, but our guild, the Tacita family, lived in a town called Tylea in the country called Asmar which was in the Plafes continent.  Of course, much like this planet, there were Assassins who didn’t work as assassins, instead, they worked normal jobs – everything from farmers to politicians.  However, the Assassins who worked as assassins would have to fight one another in order to receive a contract.  The winner of that fight would be given the contract that was fought over by our queen, Queen Enyo.  Back then, the Assassins carried out assassinations on our home planet and other planets that were accessible.  Not long after I was born, my mother and father split up, but still remained close friends and had an undying love for each other.  One day, when I was four years old, I was with my mother.  I remember that I had just gotten home from the Academy, where they trained us as assassins, and when I walked into the house, she was sitting at the kitchen table with two men.  I didn’t know it at the time, but they were both Saiyans.  They didn’t seem to be causing her any harm, so I went upstairs to my bedroom and began working on my homework for the next day.  A few hours later when I went downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water, I heard crying coming from my mother’s room, so I went to check on her, and what I found has haunted me since.  When I walked into her room, I found one of the men who had been eating at the kitchen table finishing getting dressed.  On the bed in front of him laid my mother who was completely nude and covered in blood.  I didn’t know what had happened – only that she was in a lot of pain, and at the sound of my gasp, the man turned around and looked at me.  Immediately, I looked to my right and got the dagger that was sitting on the small night stand next to the door, and without thought, I lunged towards the man.  Thankfully, he hadn’t put his armor back on yet, so it was easy for me to cut through his top.  I aimed for his heart, but ultimately because I was so little, I wasn’t strong enough to actually stab through his chest and into his heart, but in the end, he was bleeding profusely from the left side of his chest.  I knew it had hurt him to some degree because he bolted out of our house as he carried his armor out in his hand.  As soon as I saw him leave, I went to my mother’s side as she laid there in her own blood.  Frantically, I tried to stop the bleeding that seemed to be coming from everywhere, but it was no use; every time I tried to stop it from one place, it came from another.  Eventually, after realizing that I couldn’t help her, I laid down in the blood soaked bed next to her and with her little bit of strength she had left, she wrapped her arms around me and held me tightly.  A few minutes later, she took her final breath, and full of fear, I ran as fast as I could to my father’s lab where he worked as a doctor, and once he came back to the house with me, he fell to his knees and immediately began trying to figure out who had caused my mother so much pain.  Because I told him what I saw, while he was examining her body at the lab, he decided to run a rape kit on her, and as just as he thought, male DNA was inside her; however, there was no evidence to conclude that it was forced, so it was obviously consensual, yet my mother’s life was taken at the end.  In hopes of trying to find the man responsible, he gathered a sample of the DNA and began trying to match it to someone.  Since my house was a crime scene, I couldn’t stay there that night, so my father made me stay with him while he continuously tried to match the male DNA – only receiving “no results” and “error” screens, but again and again he tried to figure out who had done it.  The next morning, the planet began shaking beneath us, and my father pulled me out of a deep sleep as he held a small cooler in his hands and had his backpack filled with some of his lab equipment on his back.  As the planet rumbled louder and louder, he grabbed me by my arm, and he quickly pulled me out of the laboratory and onto the last space ship that we had.  After the ship was packed full, the pilots took off, and as I looked out the window, I saw the man who had been in my mother’s room laughing and firing blasts at the planet’s surface.  Seconds after we left our planet’s atmosphere, there was a bright light and then all that was left was rubble.  So tell me, Prince Vegeta, how’d that cut heal?”


	8. Chapter 8 - How...Ironic

“There it is,” Macey said to herself quietly as she stood transparently on top of a building that was directly across the street from New Creek Park – the park where Pax’s body was dumped only hours prior.  This isn’t too far from my hideout, Macey thought as she looked at the park that was surrounded with woods.  What if she was trying to find me so she could have a place to stay?  As she stared down at the now empty area that still had crime scene tape around it, she used all of her strength to hold back tears when she began thinking about a remembering all the times that she and Pax had together and the memories they made.

            Ten years ago on New Planet Phonoi, a five-year-old Assassin was walking hand in hand with her older brother, who was eleven-years-old, on their way back from The Academy after a long day of training.  As they walked down the main street of their town, the younger Assassin looked at the shops and markets while happily and quietly humming along as her older brother led them back to their neighborhood.  When they rounded a left corner, the younger Assassin was knocked to the ground by another young Assassin who was about the same age. 

“Hey!  Watch where you’re going!”  The Assassin yelled as she landed on the ground and looked up at the other Assassin who had run into her. 

“I’m – I’m really sorry,” the Assassin at fault said quietly.  “I really need to get going,” she insisted as she tried to make her way passed the brother and sister Assassins.  The Assassin at fault had curly blonde hair, light skin, and ice blue eyes, and underneath her Academy uniform top was a large object that she was obviously trying to hide.

“Hey, not so fast,” the older brother of the Assassin on the ground said in a stern yet kind tone.  “What are you trying to hide under there?”

“Nothing,” the blonde Assassin tried to convince him as she continued to try to get by.  “I have to go back to my house.”

            “Pax!”  A woman’s voice yelled as she and a man came running towards the trio. 

“Please, let me by,” Pax quietly insisted.

“No,” the Assassin on the ground said sternly with a raised eyebrow. “Why should we?  What did you do?”

“Dea,” the older Assassin said as he looked at Pax.  “Move out of her way.”

“But Kaiser -,” Dea began to argue before being cut off.

“I said, ‘move out of her way’,” Kaiser repeated himself more sternly than before as he looked down at his sister. With a scoff, Dea stood up and allowed Pax to make her way passed.

“Thank you,” Pax whispered as she started running again in the direction she was headed in before the collision. 

“What’d you do that for?”  Dea scoffed as she crossed her arms and turned around to face her older brother.

“Pax!”  The woman yelled again before Kaiser could reply to his little sister.  “Pax!  Come back here!”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Harmonia,” Kaiser said as he bowed to the woman.

“Oh, Kaiser!”  She replied with a desperate tone.  “You have to go catch Pax.  I saw her run through here a second ago,” she pleaded.

“What’d she do?”  Kaiser asked curiously.

Ms. Harmonia let out a sigh and began explaining why Pax was running.  “She stole a watermelon from Mr. Sugi’s fruit stand when I told her that I didn’t have enough money for it.”

Hah, Dea thought with a chuckle and a smirk as she turned her attention back toward where Pax had run off to.

“Well, here you go, Ms. Harmonia,” Kaiser said as he pulled out his wallet and took out a $5 coin.  “Today, it’s on me,” he said with a smile.  “After all, she’s just a kid.”

            Hmph, I bet he didn’t think that “today” meant every day, Macey thought with a chuckle as she continued to stare down at the crime scene from on top of the building.  I must admit – you were a thief – just not a very good one.

After she finished thinking about the first time they met, she made sure that the road and sidewalk was clear before undoing her transparency, gliding down off of the building, and landing in the park.  As she landed in the park entrance, she used her transparency to look around and make sure that there were no assassins hiding in the park.  Ok, she thought with a sigh as she undid her transparency once she was certain that there were no other assassins or anyone else around for that matter.  Let’s see, she began to think as she stood at the entrance of the park.  From here, I can see the crime scene tape, so that must mean that her body was visible from at least here.  They didn’t even try to hide her, she concluded.  They wanted her found – and quickly.

            “Alright,” she said with an exhale as she began to make her way into the dark park.  As she neared the crime scene tape, an eerie feeling of being watched gave her goosebumps on her arms.  Come on, Macey.  Ghosts aren’t real, she convinced herself as the goosebumps went away.  When she got to the crime scene tape, she looked inside the closed off area and saw absolutely nothing.  They wouldn’t still have it up if they were sure that they got everything, she told herself as he bent down and went under the yellow tape and entered the small area where Pax was dumped.  As she squatted down to get a closer view of the grassy ground, she noticed a small area of blood in front of her to her left.  Filled with curiosity, she carefully walked over to it and squatted down in front of it.  Blond hair, she thought as she saw strands of blond hair in the blood.  It’s either Pax’s or her killer’s.  After looking at the hair for a moment, she gathered up a few of the pieces and put them in one of the small bags on her right arm.  The blood, she remembered.  What are the odds that it’s not Pax’s?  Once she thought for a few seconds, she touched the blood to see if it was still wet, and luckily, it was.  She took out one of her needles, injected The Reaper into her left arm, and then took the empty syringe and took a decent amount of the still wet blood.  Haha, perfect, she said with a smirk as she examined the syringe. 

“That’s all they missed?”  Macey asked herself in suspicion as she looked around the small area more thoroughly. 

            “Well, well, well,” a man’s voice said, coming out of nowhere and instantly grabbing Macey’s attention as she instinctually went for her dagger on her left leg.  “It seems as though we’ve been successful,” he continued as he leaped down from a tree to the right of Macey. 

“Who are you?”  Macey said in a demanding tone as she glared at the unknown man who had dark green eyes and blond hair and raised her dagger in a defensive pose. 

“Wouldn’t you love to know,” he chuckled menacingly as he came closer to her with a black and gold dagger in his right hand. 

“Answer me!”  Macey snapped with anger in her voice and eyes.  He’s clearly one of the top ranks, Macey thought as she looked at the dagger in his hand and the gold accent color on his belt and boots. 

“Do you really think that you can bark orders at me?”  The man said in a deep voice as he got closer and closer to her. 

            “So it seems that everything worked out,” a woman’s voice from behind Macey said.

What is going on?  Macey wondered as she began to feel her heartbeat rising. 

            “Did you guys really think you could start without me?”  Another man’s voice from a tree to Macey’s left said in an almost aggravated tone as he came out of his transparency.  The woman who had come up from behind Macey was indicated as being a red level and had dark brown hair and light blue eyes, and the man who had been in the tree to Macey’s right was another gold level who had blue hair and pure white eyes.  From their weapons, she was able to tell what kind of fighting style they had.  The man who had first approached her had two twin daggers like she had, and a set of twin daggers on his back – indicating him as a close range fighter.  The woman who appeared had a long sword in her right hand and two katanas on her back – meaning that she was a long range fighter, and the last man who appeared had a bow and arrow on his back, a dagger on his right leg, and a long rope attached to his left hip – showing that he was both long and short range, just like Macey, but he was clearly more comfortable with long range.

“What do you want?”  Macey demanded to know as she stared back and forth between the three assassins. 

“You’ve been making quite a lot of noise, Dea,” the first assassin began.

“It’s Macey now,” she rudely corrected him.

“Wow,” the third assassin who was still in the tree scoffed.  “Such a low rank, yet so arrogant and rude to the higher ups.”

“Let’s cut to the chase,” the woman said, sounding impatient and she stood back a good distance from Macey.  “You have three contracts on you, and you’ve been out here for what?  Four days?”

“Three contracts?”  Macey asked in a curious yet serious tone.

“One legal because of your little arrest, and the other two ordered illegally by an anonymous,” the first man explained to her. 

“My arrest just happened yesterday,” Macey told them in annoyance.  “I was just released a few hours ago.  There’s no way there could already be a legal contract.”

“We aren’t here to debate how quickly they were ordered on you,” the woman explained as she go into a fighting position.  “We’re here to each collect one of your contracts.”

 

**Assassin Rule #8.)** If multiple contracts are ordered on someone and the assassination is performed by one person, then that person keeps the cumulative money from all contracts.  If multiple people take part in the assassination, all the money is split evenly.  If there is the same number of participants as contracts, then each participant receives the rewards for one contract.

 

With her dagger in hand, and her body in a defensive stance, she mentally prepared herself for the ambush that she knew was inevitable.  They’re smart, she thought as she looked at their layout.  Long range fighter in the tree so he can strike from anywhere.  Short range fighter to keep me busy with one on one combat, and another long range fighter on the ground to keep me from moving to far away from the short range.  I need to take her out first.  Arrows are limited, and I’m confident that I can dodge his arrows, but if he’s smart, he won’t use them until he knows he has a clean shot, and I’m sure that clean shot will the blocked by his comrade who will, without a doubt, work on getting me off the long range fighter.  If I can move in quick enough to the long range, then she won’t have room to hit me with one of her swords.

            “Ready when you are,” Macey said with a cocky smirk as she focused her attention on the short range fighter in an attempt to cover up her plan, but then, before the fight could start, Macey felt the cold blade of a dagger tear down the right side of her face – all the way from her forehead to her jaw.  As the blade touched her skin, she instinctually closed her eyes, and when she went to open them again, she began to feel panic when she couldn’t open her right eye.  What?  She asked herself in shock.  Who – how did?  She questioned as she looked around, still able to use her left eye. 

            “I bet you thought you had us all figured out, huh?”  Another male assassin who was coming out of transparency while lying on the ground said with a chuckle.  As she looked around some more at the surrounding area, she watched as what seemed to be dozens of assassins coming out of their transparent state as they walked over to Macey with their weapons drawn.

 

…

 

            Without saying a word, Vegeta put his hand up to the scar that had been left on his chest right above his heart and stared at the Assassin in front of him.

“So then how did Macey come into existence?”  He asked quietly and seriously.

“Dea,” Kaiser corrected him.  “She was born as Dea.  She made up the name Macey for her mission that she’s now abandoned.  Why she’s decided to stick with it is beyond me.”

“Because she’s going to do what she wants,” Vegeta said bluntly.  “Now, tell me.  How does she exist?”

“It’s actually a pretty fascinating tale,” Kaiser replied with a cocky smirk, “but I’m not sure I want you to know.  Besides, in the end, it doesn’t really matter.”  Without warning, Vegeta lunged forward towards the older Assassin, pushed him back into the kitchen area, and pinned him against the refrigerator by his neck, but instead of fear on his face, Kaiser let out a small chuckle and kept the smirk on his face.

“Tell me,” Vegeta ordered, sounding more aggravated and angrier than before.

“Yes,” Kaiser chuckled as Vegeta tightened his grip around his neck.  “That’s it, Saiyan, show me who you really are,” he said in a provoking voice as he glared at Vegeta, but as soon as he finished his sentence, Vegeta let go and let him fall to the ground. 

“I won’t say it again,” Vegeta began as he glared at Kaiser who was starting to stand back up.  “Tell me how she’s here.”

“Fine,” Kaiser said through his gritted teeth as he coughed and stood back up to face the Saiyan who had murdered his mom all those years ago.  “My father worked as hard as he could every single day trying to identify the DNA that had been left inside my mother, so hard that end the end, it killed him.  That morning when he woke me up and dragged me onto the ship as the planet was being blown to bits, I didn’t know it at the time, but in the cooler was your DNA and the last of my mother’s eggs.  Later on I learned that he had taken her eggs so that he could have another child with her through a surrogate, and he had taken your DNA so that he could continue trying to identifying it.  After our species settled on New Planet Phonoi, he set up a new lab, and all he did day in and day out for the next year was try to figure out who the male was that was with my mother.  Two months after my fifth birthday, my father fell extremely ill, but still, he never gave up on trying to identify it.  He ran it through every single database that existed and would sometimes have to wait days or weeks only to get “no match found” results.  Eventually, as he neared the end of his life, my father discovered that the DNA was in fact Saiyan because of a similar instance that happened on another planet; however, the DNA he had didn’t match the new DNA sample.  A month later, he knew that he didn’t have long to live, so he made a risky decision.  Because he knew that your DNA was dying and becoming unmatchable, even more so than before, he knew that the only way to keep your DNA alive was to put it to use.  After much thought, my father decided that it was the best course of action and he finally found a surrogate to carry the child, but it came at a price.  The woman who agreed to be the surrogate wanted a child of her own, and so my father had to make twins – promising that the woman could keep the first born twin.  On July 2nd, my father took two of my mother’s eggs, injected them each with your DNA, and implanted them inside of the surrogate.  Nine months later on April 7th, the twin hybrids were born, and keeping true to his promise, he allowed the woman to keep the first born – leaving us with the younger one – Dea.  You can imagine how disappointed we were when we realized that she looked nothing like our mother and the other twin was a spitting image of her – beautiful bright green eyes and light brown hair.  The day before my father died – five days after the twins were born – he took a small amount of his blood and injected it into Dea so that he would always be a part of her.  To this day, she battles with hearing his voice screaming at her to stay on her mission.  On his death bed, he told me that I was to make sure that she grew up and avenged everyone that had died by the Saiyans’ hands, and if possible, to find out who her biological father – the man who was with my mother was so that I could avenge my mother’s death personally.”

 

…

 

            “Well, Dea,” another different assassin said as he got closer to her with a sword in hand.  “How confident are you that you’re gonna get out of this?”  He asked sarcastically.

“One hundred percent,” she replied in a stern voice as she glared at him and held her right hand over her right eye that had been severely cut. 

“That’s a nasty wound right there,” another assassin joked. 

“It’s just a flesh wound,” Macey replied with a smirk as she took her hand off of her eye but was still unable to open it.

“Looks like she’s gonna fight this war with one eye and no backup,” a female assassin laughed.  “Maybe we should just end this quickly for her.”

“Like I’d ever let that happen,” Macey said in a cocky tone as she examined her surroundings with her one good eye and her weapon still in hand.  Suddenly and without warning, an arrow from one of the assassins in a tree was fired and landed right in front of Macey’s foot – signaling the start of the battle.  Gray tail, she thought as she looked at the arrow and quickly jumped back to attempt to get some distance between her and the dozens of assassins after her.  Time for Plan B, she told herself as she quickly ran transparently towards the forest of trees that surrounded the park.  Once she was close enough, she leapt up into a tree, and while having to undo her transparency, she stealthily moved her way through the trees. 

“Found you!”  An assassin who had been a transparent lookout yelled out as he watched Macey leap from tree to tree.  Soon, an arrow with a white tail was shot past her head, narrowly missing her.  “Gah,” the assassin scoffed as he watched her get out of his sight.  “She’s too fast.” 

Hah, Macey thought with a chuckle and a smirk as she continued to make her way through the trees, put her dagger back on her right leg, and began to pull her bow and an arrow out, rookie.  As she neared the end of the forest and found herself in the front of the park, she noticed a stealthy, gray leveled, lookout keeping watch transparently with an arrow ready to fire in a tree slightly above her.  Sad, isn’t it?  She thought as she silently pulled back an arrow and shot it at the back of the assassin’s neck.  Even people I graduated with are out to kill me.  As the assassin fell to the ground with the sound of a loud grunt, all the other assassins’ attention was turned to the edge of the forest and immediately ran as fast as they could from their spread out positions to the spot of the fallen assassin.  Well, here goes nothing, Macey thought as she put her bow and arrow back on her back and pulled out her dagger again.  As soon as the assassins arrived at the spot right beneath her, some began to leap through and search the forest for any trace of her.  In total, seven assassins were left on the ground to search for her.  Morons, she thought with a smirk.  Of course they fell for it.  Once she made sure her head count was correct, she undid her transparency and quickly jumped down from on top of the trees – successfully taking out two assassins – one with her dagger and the other with her hand by snapping his neck.  Five more, she thought as she went transparent again and drew the attention of the five remaining assassins. 

“She’s right here!”  One of the female assassins exclaimed to the other four – resulting in them forming a closed circle around her.  Two short range behind me, a short range on either side, and a long range in front of me, she realized as she examined the weapons that they were using.  As the six transparent assassins stared at each other, Macey let out a small chuckle and drew her other dagger, and in the blink of an eye, she took out two assassins – the one on her left and the one on her right with her twin daggers.  Three more, she quickly thought as she felt out the positions of the assassin in front of her and the two behind her.

“So fast,” one of the red level males behind her said quietly to himself as he saw how quickly she took out two of his comrades.  With her back still turned to the two assassins behind her, they stealthily charged her; however, unbeknownst to them, she could feel their slightest movements as they stepped towards her.  Once they got about a foot away from her, she undid her transparency, jumped up in a backflip, and back flipped back towards the top of the trees, but before landing on the top of the trees, she launched her twin daggers into the necks of the two short range assassins.  And finally, she thought as she quickly went transparent and took out another bow and her arrow – quickly launching it into the forehead of the long range assassin.  And that makes seven, she told herself as she strapped the bow back on her back.  It’s a clear shot from here.  If I wanted to, I could make it back to my warehouse undetected. 

“No,” she said quietly with a disgusted tone after thinking about what she almost considered doing.

            “‘No’, what?!”  A female assassin yelled from behind her seemingly out of nowhere.  Before Macey could react, she was met with the tip of an arrow that pierced through her left shoulder, causing her to let out a yell and fall down onto the ground beneath her.

“You could have taken that opportunity and bolted out of here before anyone ever found you,” the assassin said as she leapt down and landed behind Macey who was struggling to get back up on her feet.

So fast, Macey thought in surprise as she gripped her shoulder tightly with her right hand.  Once she finally got back up on her feet, she examined the assassin standing in front of her.  The assassin who had landed the painful shot looked to be around the same age as Macey.  She had pale skin, long light brown hair and bright green eyes.  Covering a good portion of the left side of her face was a scar that was in the shape of a “Y”.  It began from her left temple, went down to her cheek, and then it branched off to under her left eye.  Her build was similar to Macey’s and through her weapons and clothing accents, she concluded that she was a red level assassin.  Her weapons cache was identical to Macey’s expect on her arms where Macey had her bags with needles, this assassin had metal arm guards with four long, sharp, spikes that came out each one.

“So,” Macey said with a smirk on her face as she ignored the fresh wounds that had been bestowed upon her.  “So, you’re a Demon’s Bite user, are you?”  She deduced as she looked at the weapons on the assassin’s arms.

 

**Demon’s Bite**

noun

  1. A deadly weapon used only by a few assassins.



 

**Appearance:** Long black metal arm guards accented with the assassin’s rank color that run from the wrist to the elbow on each arm with four, long, sharp, black spikes protruding out to the side of each one. 

**Abilities:** Can be used as a normal weapon in physical fights or can transform into different weapons.

            **Transformation 1:** Venom Chains     

  * When enough energy is gathered into the arms of the assassin who is using Demon’s Bite, chains can be released from the arm guards with the spikes on the ends, and the spikes fill with poison that instantly kill the target once it makes contact. The assassin who uses this transformation is able to control the number of chains that are emitted and can control where and how they move.



Disadvantage: Can kill the assassin using it if they are struck with one of the spikes, can easily be avoided if not used while incognito, and will only work if the assassin using it fifteen feet away from someone else.

**Mostly Used:** In long range attacks and in transparent attacks.

 

**Transformation 2:** Chain Sword

  * When enough energy is gathered into the arms of the assassin who is using Demon’s bite, all eight spikes will emerge into chains, twist together, all eight spikes will form into a deadly blade, and a handle is made from the chains. Once the chain sword is made, a new set of spikes appear on each arm guard after fifteen minutes.



**Mostly Used:** In mid-range attacks.

 

“What of it?”  The assassin standing in front of Macey questioned as she positioned herself in a fighting stance.

“It takes a skillful assassin to be able to use that,” Macey replied with a chuckle.  “I’ve never faced someone who uses it.  This should be exciting.”

“You shouldn’t so excited to die,” the assassin replied with anger in her voice as she glared at Macey with her bright green eyes.

There’s no telling what type of fighter she is, Macey thought as she tried to figure out how to approach the assassin who was clearly out to kill her.  She’s got a bow and arrow – that means she’s long range, and she’s got twin daggers and she’s also able to use the spikes on her arms as weapons – meaning that she can go hand to hand.  However, the Demon’s Bite can be used for either long or mid-range.  If she uses it in its mid-range mode, then she’s obviously more comfortable fighting close, and if she uses it in its long range mode, then she’ll be more comfortable fighting at a distance.  I’ve got to make her transform that weapon, and then I’ll be able to fight.

            After figuring out her strategy, Macey quickly darted over to one of the freshly killed assassins and pulled one of her daggers out. She then ran towards the assassin with her dagger in her left hand and swung it at the right side of the other assassin – only to be caught by surprise when her blade was easily blocked by the assassin’s right arm guard.

“Face it, Dea,” the assassin began as she glared over to look at Macey.  “I’m much faster than you are.” 

What the hell?  Macey wondered as she re-distanced herself from the other young assassin.  How could she have blocked that?  I moved as fast as I could.  Fine, if she wants to play that game, then I’ll play as well.

“That might have worked on anyone else, but I’m faster than anyone one else,” the assassin bragged.  “Including you.”  Seconds later, she connected a right fist to Macey’s stomach so quickly that Macey was unable to react in time.  As the fist connected, she felt a shock of pain go through her body and her anger begin to rise, and then Macey retaliated with a right knee to the assassin’s face – causing her lip to bust and begin to bleed.  While the assassin was pushed back from the force of the knee to her face, Macey quickly holstered her dagger, jumped back up into the trees, turned transparent and fired an arrow at her.  Close up attacks aren’t going to work, Macey realized as the arrow quickly shot towards the assassin.  She’s too quick to counter them.  I need to keep my distance.  However, once the arrow got within a few inches of the assassin, she quickly reached her hand up and caught it without even looking up as she continued to get the blood off of her lip. 

“What the,” Macey quietly whispered to herself as she looked at the assassin who was looking up to where the arrow came from.

“You can stop hiding,” she said as she transparently looked directly to where the transparent Macey was perched.

She’s quick in hand-to-hand combat and she can stop long distance attacks without even looking, Macey thought in surprise.  I’ve never known anyone who can do that except for me.  Ok, so, how would I beat me?  She continued to strategize.  Where are my weakness and strengths?

“You’re trapped, Dea,” the assassin below continued to speak – still looking directly where Macey was sitting.

That’s it, Macey thought as she came up with a new strategy and quietly made her way further down the line of trees and past the assassin so that she was behind her back.

            You couldn’t have gone far, the assassin on the ground began to think to herself.  What’re you planning, Dea?  On a whim, the assassin fired a bow into the spot that she was certain Macey was hiding in, but when it shot through the trees and hit no one and nothing, she realized that a fast one had been pulled on her.  Where are you?  She began to wonder.  How could you have escaped so quietly?

“Surely, I would’ve heard you moving,” the assassin said quietly to herself.  Suddenly, without warning, a rope appeared around the assassin’s feet, and she quickly found herself strung up high in a tree, pulled out of her transparency, and looking up to none other than her target. 

            “So,” Macey began as she jumped down from the tree and looked at the upside down assassin hanging from the tree with the rope around her ankles.  “Are you done trying to kill me?”

“How were you able to catch me?”  The unamused assassin demanded to know.  “I should have heard you moving or seen you when I was transparent.”

“Yeah, well,” Macey scoffed.  “You’re not the only one who’s fast,” she said with a chuckle and a smirk.  “It was quite simple really.”

“What are you talking about?”  The hanging assassin questioned with annoyance in her voice.

“Well, I guess since you’re gonna be hanging here for a while, I might as well tell you,” Macey replied proudly.  “Let’s just say that I came up with a new Transparency, and that was a successful first tryout.  I like to call it, “Flash Rush”.”

 

**Flash Rush**

noun

 

  1. A custom move made up by Dea Tacita/Macey Evans. Similar to the normal Transparency that any assassin can use, but when using this technique, Dea/Macey quickly manipulates her energy and makes her body flash from transparent to visible faster than the eye can see – thus making her completely invisible, much like a ghost. 



 

“I was moving so fast, that you couldn’t see, but I was sitting in one spot,” she laughed.  “You were looking right at me most of the time.”

“I would have heard you moving,” the assassin insisted as she tried to get free by using the spikes on her arm guards to cut the rope, but soon, she felt Macey’s hands hold her arms still so that she couldn’t move them.

“Maybe you would’ve if I was less careful of my surroundings,” Macey explained.  “I know where every twig, branch, and leaf is.”

“That’s impossible,” the assassin insisted.  “No one can make absolutely no noise.”

“I never said that I didn’t make any noise,” Macey emphasized.  “I just didn’t make any that you heard.”

“What on Earth are you babbling on about?!”  The assassin yelled, sounding infuriated.

“It’s very interesting,” Macey began with a chuckle.  “You know, for the few days that I’ve been here, I’ve learned more in this planet’s school than I ever did in the Academy.  Did you know that the brain automatically tunes out sounds that are expected and predictable?  For instance, we are in a park surrounded by forests.  Your brain is expecting to hear the slight scurrying of squirrels or the tiny sound of a leaf cracking, so in response, it’s subconsciously tuned out while you consciously tune in for more distinct sounds.  So, if I did happen to step on a leaf or crack a twig, you wouldn’t have noticed it.”

“So, what?”  The assassin scoffed.  “And I suppose that you just had a random rope lying around somewhere?”

“No, actually,” Macey began with honesty.  “There are a lot of dead assassins in these woods, and well, you know, we all have our own preferences.”

“You killed an assassin and stole his weapon?”  The dangling assassin asked with a scoff.

 

**Assassin Rule #9.)** Stealing another assassin’s weapon is considered one of the most disrespectful actions and can result in a punishment of a sixth month suspension.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Macey said nonchalantly.  “Disrespectful and whatnot, but I think it’s a little disrespectful to send an entire order of assassins after me for no reason, and I needed a rope so that I could lay my little trap.”

“It wasn’t for no reason,” the assassin rebutted.  “You know that.  You turned your back on every assassin and your mission, and for that, you will be executed.”

“Pathetic, isn’t it?”  Macey began.  “We’re trained to kill from the time our parents put us in the Academy at four years old, given missions all throughout our lives, but once we begin to think for ourselves and look for different aspects of life, we get a red target painted on our back.  Pretty barbaric if you ask me.”

“So then why are you still wearing that outfit if you’re going to turn your back on us?”  The assassin demanded to know.  “Why are you still using assassin weapons and wearing assassin clothing?”

“Honestly?”  Macey replied with a raised eyebrow.  “Because I haven’t had time to go shopping.  I’ve been just a little bit busy with trying to stay alive.  So, now I’ve answered your questions.  It’s time for you to answer mine.  Who killed Pax?”

“I won’t sell out my comrade like that,” the assassin replied through her teeth.

“Of course – should have seen that coming,” Macey replied quickly with an exhale.  “Alright then, why was she killed?”

“Hah,” the assassin chuckled.  “If I told you, I promise you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me,” Macey replied with a glare.

            “Fine,” the assassin said with a smirk.  “Pax got busted for delivering an illegal contract in a legal folder.  She forged everything so that it looked almost identical to a legal contract, but she screwed up on Queen Enyo’s signature, and her color-blind ass couldn’t tell the difference between dark blue and black ink.  She gave it to a rookie assassin in hopes that he wouldn’t be able to tell is was an illegal contract made to look legal.”

“Shut up,” Macey said quickly as she felt anger begin to swell in her.

“Oh, wait,” the assassin chuckled.  “Does it sound a little familiar to you?”

“Pax wouldn’t have sent someone to kill me,” Macey said with a clenched jaw.  “She was my best friend – there’s no possible way.”

“I assure you there is,” the assassin continued to gloat.  “Apparently, the rookie assassin figured out that it was a fake legal contract and turned her into the queen.  Queen Enyo then took the fake legal contract from the assassin and turned it into the C.I.A along with Pax – resulting in her arrest.”

“You’re lying,” Macey growled.  “I killed that assassin when he tried to kill me.”

“Well, then perhaps someone else had a copy of it,” the assassin suggested.  “I don’t really care.  It’s not my place to get involved.  I’m just here to carry out your execution order.”

Pax was the one who sent that assassin after me?  Macey thought to herself in disbelief as she felt her heart break into a million pieces.  Kaiser and I covered up the murder of the assassin – I’m sure of it.  Could there have been someone else with that contract?  Kaiser took that contract when he went to get rid of the body and sent me a picture of it burned up.

“You look mighty distracted,” the assassin chuckled.  “Whatcha thinking?”

“That I’m gonna finish you off, and then I’ll figure out what’s going on,” Macey said as she grabbed her dagger and began to thrust it towards the assassin’s chest.  As her blade neared the assassin’s chest, the deadly chain sword that had been forged from the assassin’s Demon’s Bite came out of the ground directly under Macey’s stomach and impaled her stomach. 

            “You aren’t the only one with tricks up her sleeve!”  The assassin laughed as she cut the rope around her legs with the spikes on her left arm and flipped onto the ground.  As Macey struggled to get the blade out of her stomach, the assassin grabbed the handle that was now out of the ground and pulled it out of her – undoing the cork that it had made when it entered her stomach.  As the sword was pulled out of her, Macey fell to the ground and began coughing up blood. 

No, she thought as she looked at the blood in front of her and tried to hold the wound on her stomach closed.  I’m not going to die like this. 

“I listened to you long enough,” the assassin said as she held the sword in her left hand and turned Macey over onto her back.  “Now it’s your turn to listen to me, but you don’t look like you’re gonna be alive too much longer, so I’ll make it quick.  You aren’t the only one who knows how to set traps, Dea,” she began as she put her right foot on Macey’s chest to keep her from moving.  “Basically, before we even started our battle – before you were even aware that I was here, I transformed my Demon’s Bite into the Chain Sword and hid it vertically underground with the blade up.  When I came up behind you, I purposely knocked you into the area where I had hidden it, and then I stood a few feet behind where I had hidden it so that it wouldn’t hit me once it came up – that’s why I didn’t chase after you when you bolted off into the trees.  I know your fighting style, and I know that it’s almost identical to mine, so I thought about how I would’ve fought me, and I was right.  You set a trap directly above me, so all I had to do was wait for the right moment to bring my sword out of the ground and into you.  You thought you were so smart and strong.  Don’t you see now, Dea?”  She said with a smirk as she knelt down to the dying Macey.  “You are nothing.  Sure, you can handle these Earthlings and a few normal assassins with no effort, but when you’re face to face with a real warrior, you’re nothing more than a fish out of water trying to breathe.  Now, you die,” she said as she began to swing her Chain Sword at Macey.

            “No, she doesn’t!” A man’s voice yelled from out of nowhere as he grabbed the assassin’s wrist and threw her back – effectively tearing the sword out of her hand and knocking her out.

Who…?  Is that…?  Macey wondered as she tried to open her eyes to see the man who had saved her life. 

“Hey,” he said gently as he held the sword in his right hand and knelt down to her to make sure she was alright.  As she saw who it was, a smile appeared and tears began to stream down her face as she was on the verge of unconsciousness.  “I’m gonna get you out of here,” he said as he picked her up bridal style with the sword still in his right hand, his left hand supporting her head, and his right arm and the sword supporting her legs.

How…ironic, she thought as she got one last chuckle out before entering unconsciousness.

“Hmph,” Vegeta replied with a proud smirk on his face.  “So, she is mine,” he confirmed as his smirk grew.  “Where’s the other one?”

“Yeah, like I’d tell you,” Kaiser scoffed with a smug look.  “Not even Dea knows.  She doesn’t even know she’s half Saiyan,” Kaiser informed him.  “Come to think of it, my father seemed to have a sense of humor – what with wanting to use a half breed Saiyan to assassinate the Saiyans and all,” he chuckled.

“I knew something felt familiar about her,” Vegeta confessed.

“Unfortunately, she acts more like a Saiyan than she does an Assassin,” Kaiser added.  “It’s honestly quite infuriating.”

“Of course,” Vegeta chuckled.  “After all, she’s half me.”

“Yeah, well.  Congratulations,” Kaiser scoffed as he moved past Vegeta and headed for the door. 

“There’s one more thing that I need to know,” Vegeta said, stopping the older Assassin in his tracks and causing him to turn back.  “Why did you tell me all of this and not even enact your revenge?”

The question made Kaiser chuckle and turn completely back around to face the Saiyan who was standing a few feet away from him.  “Because,” Kaiser began.  “I’m a loyal assassin and brother.  My orders from the queen are to monitor Dea.  I was strictly prohibited from physically harming any of the Saiyans.  And as for telling you that she’s your daughter, well, that’s my little secret,” he said with a sarcastic wink and turned back to open the door.  Right as he opened the door that seemed to be acting as a dam, a clearly bloodied and hurt Macey spilled inside the warehouse along with Goku who was trying to hurry her inside.

            “What the hell?!”  Vegeta exclaimed, clearly in shock at the horrific sight as he watched Macey struggle to stay conscious and as Goku tried to pull her inside carefully but quickly.

“Come on,” Goku whispered as he got her inside and closed the door behind him.  “You’re gonna be just fine,” he assured her.  Once the two were completely inside, Macey collapsed on the floor completely unconscious.


	9. Chapter 9 - It's Time for Round Two

On the floor of the warehouse hideout, Vegeta, Goku, and Kaiser all watched with worry and concern as they saw Macey lying on the floor covered in blood.  Frantically, Goku reached into his waistband where he had secured his Senzu Beans, and once he got one out, he turned Macey over onto her back and forced one down her throat. 

            Come on, he thought frantically as he tried to wake her up enough so she would swallow the bean.  Come on, wake up. 

“What’s the matter?!”  Kaiser demanded to know as he watched Goku try to help his dying little sister.  How could this have happened?  Kaiser angrily asked himself.

“She’s not awake, so she can’t eat the Senzu Bean!”  He replied as he continued trying to get her to wake up.

“Move,” Vegeta commanded Goku as he pushed Goku out of the way to try to help his new found daughter.  “Give me a bean,” he commanded as he reached into one of Macey’s bags and pulled out a needle full of The Reaper.  Immediately, he injected the fluid into his arm so that it was empty.  “Here,” he said to Kaiser as he held the empty syringe up to him, “go fill it with a tiny bit of water.”  Kaiser did what he was told without hesitation and quickly returned to find that Vegeta had crushed up a Senzu Bean in his hand.  Once Kaiser handed the needle back, Vegeta put the crushed up bean into the syringe, swirled it around so that it would mix with the water to make a liquid Senzu Bean, and then injected it into his daughter’s vein on her left arm.  “Come on,” he quietly pleaded.  “Work.”  Suddenly, the three of them witnessed the wounds on her body begin to close, but not without leaving behind evidence of their once existence.  “Why aren’t they healing all the way?”  Vegeta asked as he saw the horrific cut on Macey’s left eye and her stomach form giant, noticeable scars. 

            “It’s her Assassin DNA,” Kaiser answered honestly.  “The body of an Assassin always forms scars from cuts because scars are beneficial in helping us cover up our identities and staying unrecognizable when we aren’t on missions.” 

“Her what DNA?”  Goku questioned with sincere confusion.

“I’ll explain later,” Vegeta replied quickly.  “Why isn’t she waking up?”  He impatiently demanded to know.  “The bean should have restored her consciousness.”

“Hm,” Kaiser replied with a smirk.  “It seems as though her body heals like that of an Assassin and not a Saiyan.  While her wounds may have healed quicker because of that bean, her body is forcing her to stay unconscious while her energy builds back up.”

“The Senzu Bean should have completely restored her energy,” Goku sided with Vegeta. 

“You two know absolutely nothing of the Assassin DNA,” Kaiser replied with a chuckle.  “Our energy is completely different from any other – it can’t be restored by something as simple as a magic bean.  The only reason her body healed in the first place is because of her Saiyan DNA, but I’m assuming that your little cure-all doesn’t have the ability to restore Assassin energy, which is the only energy she’s ever learned how to use.  Your little bean would never work on a full-blooded Assassin.”

“Well, she’s alive,” Vegeta announced as he stuck his index and middle finger up to Macey’s neck to feel for a pulse.  What happened to you?  He wondered as he looked at the unconscious teenager.

“We should probably change her out of those blood-soaked clothes,” Kaiser suggested.  “She’ll probably be more comfortable in her bed, but I know she won’t be happy if she wakes up and there’s blood everywhere.”

“Yeah,” Vegeta agreed as he stood up from his daughter, “that’s probably a good idea.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Kaiser insisted as he began to walk over towards Macey’s dresser.

“No,” Vegeta replied sternly as he dashed over and blocked Kaiser from reaching the dresser.  “I can take care of her,” Vegeta responded as he and Kaiser stared at each other.

“She’s my little sister,” Kaiser scoffed, sounding offended at Vegeta’s denial to allow him to help.  “I’ve raised her since she was an infant.”

“And she’s my daughter,” Vegeta angrily countered.

“Your what?!”  Goku exclaimed in shock at the revelation.

“And as her father, I’m going to take care of her,” Vegeta continued with aggravation in his voice as he ignored Goku’s question.

“Fine,” Kaiser finally replied with a scoff.  “It’s almost six-thirty anyways, and unlike her, I don’t blow my cover,” he said as he headed for the front door.  Dammit, Kaiser thought as he walked out of the door and closed it behind him.  Nemei is going to die for this.

            Once Kaiser left the warehouse, Vegeta turned towards the dresser and once he found her drawer with her pajamas in it, he picked out a baggy dark blue t-shirt and black pajamas pants with a white bow on the front of them. 

“So,” Goku began quietly as Vegeta knelt back down at Macey’s side, “what’s going on?  What did he mean by Assassin DNA?”

“I’ll explain later,” Vegeta replied quietly as he looked at his unconscious daughter.  “Go in the bathroom,” he ordered Goku.

“Huh?  But why?”  Goku questioned.

“Just do it,” Vegeta insisted with an annoyed tone, “and don’t come out until I tell you to.”  Without any more debate, Goku stood up from his sitting position on the floor, walked over, and entered the bathroom.  After hearing the door close, Vegeta began taking Macey’s cold and blood soaked clothes off.  He undid all the straps on her dirt covered boots, took them off and threw them to the side along with her black boot socks.  How dare they, he thought in aggravation as he looked at his badly injured teenage daughter and began taking her filthy, blood soaked spandex pants off.  Once they were off, he put the black pajamas pants with the white bow on her unconscious body, and then he moved her arms so that they were above her head and began to slide her long sleeve, black spandex turtleneck shirt off – revealing the nasty scar that had been left behind on her stomach.  I’m going to make them pay with their lives, he told himself in anger and disgust as he stared at the scar that went diagonally across Macey’s body.  After taking her shirt and half face mask off, he carefully sat her up and put the baggy, dark blue t-shirt on her and then picked her up bridal style and carried her over to her pulled out futon.  After placing her on her back with her head comfortably propped up on two pillows, he pulled up the comforter that was folded down at the bottom of the bed and covered her up with it – leaving only her shoulders and up showing.  “You can come out now,” Vegeta said quietly to Goku as he stayed standing by Macey’s side and watched her.

            “So,” Goku quietly began as he stepped out of the bathroom and saw Vegeta protectively standing by the sleeping Assassin, “is she gonna be okay?” He asked with concern in his voice.

“She’ll be fine,” Vegeta replied quietly.  “How did you know where to find her?”  He asked as he turned his attention to Goku.

“Huh?”  Goku replied with a puzzled face.  “You’re telling me that you didn’t feel the battle taking place?  You were closer to it than I was.”

“No,” Vegeta confessed, “I didn’t sense anything.”

“That’s strange,” Goku admitted.  “But I sensed a battle with a lot of energy going on, and I knew I was feeling her energy, so I used instant transmission to find her, and when I got there, she was on the ground, badly wounded, and was about to be killed, so I got her out of there as fast as I could.  Since I knew you and Bulma had gotten custody of her, I figured that I’d take her to Capsule Corp, so I found your energy and used instant transmission to show up here.”

“So, you could feel my energy, but I couldn’t feel yours or her’s,” Vegeta quietly concluded. 

“Seems like it,” Goku reconfirmed as he turned his attention towards the unconscious Assassin.  “So, what did you mean by, ‘she’s my daughter’?”  He asked Vegeta.

            “It’s just as it sounds,” Vegeta replied as he stood with his back turned towards Macey and his arms crossed.

“So, what?”  Goku questioned curiously.  “You had a kid with another woman before Bulma?”  The seemingly innocent question caused Vegeta’s anger to rise.

“No,” he said as he tried to keep his composure.  “You wouldn’t understand how she happened,” he informed Goku and he turned around and looked down at his sleeping teenage daughter.  “It’s a long and confusing story.”

“Well, you can at least try to explain it to me,” Goku insisted.

“Fine,” Vegeta reluctantly agreed as he kept trying to keep his rage from boiling over as he kept looking at the scar on Macey’s once flawless face.  “I’ll keep it as short as I can.”

 

…

 

            He’s gonna kill me, she thought fearfully as she found herself backed into a corner, completely unarmed, and the man who had been her greatest fear heading towards her.  As she finished her thought, the left side of her face was met with a right hook – just one of the many that had been inflicted upon her body.  Her bright green eyes were filled with fear and tears, and her light brown hair now had blood in it.  “Please,” she begged the man causing her so much pain.  “Please, just stop.  I’m sorry!” 

“Pathetic,” he scoffed as he took out one of his daggers.  “You’re nothing but a worthless piece of trash!”  He yelled as he picked the girl up by the throat and held her against the wall.

“Please,” she begged through her tears and shortness of breath.  “Please, Kaiser.  Just stop.”

“I gave you one mission, Nemei,” he replied through his clenched teeth.  “I gave you one mission and you failed it miserably, and for that, you’ll die right here by my hand.”

“Kaiser,” Nemei pleaded as he tightened his grip around her throat.  “Please, brother, please just let me go.  I won’t fail next time.  I promise.”

“Next time?”  Kaiser replied with a chuckle.  “There is no “next time”,” he said coldly, “you had one chance.”

“If the Saiyan hadn’t gotten involved, then I would’ve killed her,” Nemei argued.  “They’re the ones to blame.”  At the sound of her statement, Kaiser dropped her to the ground, and she immediately fell to her knees and hands as she coughed and tried to catch her breath. 

“Oh, darling little sister,” Kaiser said as he knelt down and picked Nemei’s face up from under her chin in order to get her to look at him, “I have a new mission for you, and this time, if you fail, there will be no second chances.  Understand?”

“Yea-yea-yes,” she fearfully sputtered out.  “What’s the mission?”

“You will eliminate all of the Saiyans – including Dea,” he told her with a sadistic smirk on his face.  “I don’t care how you do it – just get it over with.”

“R-r-right,” she anxiously agreed.

“Now,” he said as he stood up and she dropped her head back down as he let go of her chin.  “Stand up and get to work.  I have a class to teach.”

            In the park where the failed assassination took place, Kaiser left Nemei beaten and bloodied on the small bathroom floor, and as he walked out of the room, he shut the light off – leaving her in the dark and then closed the door behind him.  

Mother, she plead to herself as her tears fell to the floor.  Mother, please, help me.  What have I done?  I disgraced my entire family by failing so miserably.  What am I to do?  Shall I fall on my sword?

“No,” she said quietly to herself.  “I will win this.”  After struggling to get back to her feet Nemei finally managed to gather enough strength and willpower to make it over to the light switch and turn it back on.  As the room became lit, she looked at herself in the mirror and saw the bruises and cuts that had been inflicted upon her body from Kaiser’s vicious beating from both his hands and his daggers.  “Hmph,” she grunted with a smirk as she wet a paper towel and wiped the blood off of her face.  “It’s time for round two.”

 

…

 

“I think I understand,” Goku said honestly.  “So, wait.  Where’s her twin?”  He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No idea,” Vegeta admitted.  “He wouldn’t tell me.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, who was that guy?”  Goku wondered.

“Macey’s older brother,” Vegeta told him.  “The woman’s young son that tried to kill me.”

Goku looked at Vegeta in surprise from what he had just been told. 

“Wow,” Goku said in shock.  “I thought I felt some tension going on,” he said with a nervous chuckle.

“He’s pissed that she hasn’t done her mission,” Vegeta explained. 

“So, why hasn’t she done it?”  Goku questioned as he looked at the teenage assassin.

“Honestly?”  Vegeta replied with a chuckle.  “It’s hard to tell what her true reason is.  She’s like a puzzle.  Her brother told me that she’s not going to do it because she wants to use us to become stronger, but then again, she told me that she hasn’t done it because it’s too easy.  But when she ran out earlier, I took a look at her textbooks, and I’m starting to think that there’s much more to her than we can see – it’s almost as if she’s hiding a different person inside of her.”

“So what’re you gonna do?”  Goku asked his friend.  Without a reply, Vegeta sat down, crisscrossed his legs, crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against the pulled out bed where the teenager was sleeping.

“I’m going to sit here,” Vegeta replied as he closed his eyes.  “Until she wakes up, I’m going to stay right here.”  As Goku watched his old rival protectively guard his daughter, an uncontrollable smirk came across his face, but he remained quiet and quickly but silently went to perform his instant transmission.

“Huh,” he said as he failed to find Gohan or Goten’s energy so that he could return back home.

“What is it?”  Vegeta asked in an annoyed tone still with his eyes closed.

“That’s weird,” Goku pointed out.  “I can’t sense the boys’ energy, or anyone’s energy for that matter.”

“Maybe you’re just not looking hard enough,” Vegeta flatly suggested.

“No, that’s not it,” Goku countered.  “I can’t feel anyone’s energy besides yours and Macey’s.”

“Then go try from outside or something,” Vegeta said with an annoyed sigh as he opened his eyes and looked towards Goku.

“Hm,” Goku said as he opened the door and walked outside.  “There they are!”  He exclaimed.  “See you later, Vegeta,” he said as he closed the door and then vanished into midair.

“Hmph, moron,” Vegeta grunted as he closed his eyes again and fell asleep sitting on the floor guarding his daughter.        

As the day of Wednesday came and went, the afternoon slowly crept its way in, and finally, after being unconscious for the past nine hours, Macey’s eyes finally opened back up at two o’clock in the afternoon, and as she looked to her right, she was shocked to see Vegeta leaning against her pulled out bed fast asleep.  Carefully, she sat up and made her way down to the foot of her bed so that she could get off without disturbing the sleeping Saiyan.  Hmph, she thought as she stood up with her back towards the kitchen and looked at Vegeta.  He actually doesn’t seem like such a hothead when he’s asleep.  She turned her attention towards the kitchen and quietly and desperately tried to find something to eat, but unfortunately, her search turned up no results.  Damn, she thought as lost hope in trying to find enough food to satisfy her hunger.  As if it were agreeing with her, her stomach let out a loud grumble and she quickly placed her hands over it like she was trying to keep it quiet.

“I can hear you, you know,” Vegeta said plainly with his eyes still closed and his body still leaning up against the bed.

“I thought you were sound asleep,” Macey replied as she walked over to him and sat down on the coffee table.

“Well, you thought wrong,” he replied as he opened his eyes to look at her.  “I’m not a heavy sleeper.”

“Clearly,” she scoffed right before her stomach let out another cry for help.  “I’m starving,” she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes and tried to ignore her hunger.

Her face, Vegeta thought as he looked at the scar that went down the left side of his daughter’s face.  “Do you remember what happened?”  He asked, sounding a tad bit concerned.

“Don’t remind me,” she replied with anger as she got off and stood up from the coffee table and turned her back towards her father with her arms crossed.  “I’m a complete failure.  I had to rely on someone to save me,” she said in disbelief.  “How pathetic is that?  I would have preferred to die.”

“Yeah, well, you almost did,” Vegeta reminded her with a trace of hurt in his voice.  “If Kakarot hadn’t saved you, then you certainly wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Aww.  It sounds like you care,” she said with a chuckle.  “Who would’ve thought?  A proud, mighty Saiyan caring about the pathetic excuse of an assassin who was supposed to execute him.”

“Stop it,” he snapped at her.  “Get dressed and let’s go,” he ordered her as he stood up from his sitting position.

“Huh?  Where’re we going?”  She asked with a puzzled look.

“You said you were hungry, right?”  Vegeta said as he crossed his arms and turned towards the door.  “We’re going to eat.”  Without further argument or hesitation, Macey walked over to her dresser and pulled out long black skinny jeans and a white, oversized t-shirt.  Once she walked into the bathroom and flipped the light on, she saw the scar that was vertically down the left side of her face. 

I remember him healing me, she thought as she ran her hand over the scar and examined it in the mirror, and as she lifted up her shirt to change her clothes, she ran her hand along the scar that was diagonally across her stomach.  I can still feel the sword inside of me.  Wait a second, she thought as her eyes opened wide.  “The sword,” she whispered quietly.  She quickly finished getting dressed, tied her hair into a bun, and ran out of the bathroom.  “Where is it?”  She asked with demand in her voice.

“Where’s what?”  Vegeta replied as he looked over his shoulder to see his frantic daughter.

“The sword,” she quickly specified as she started looking all around her warehouse.  “I remember Goku grabbing it and bringing it when he brought me here.  Now, where is it?”

“How should I know?”  Vegeta answered her with annoyance in his voice as he turned to look at her searching everywhere.  Macey grabbed her phone from off of the coffee table, got down on the floor, and shined her phone’s flashlight under her futon.

“What the hell?”  She said in shock and confusion as her flashlight shined off of a set of red and black arm guards. 

“What is it?”  Vegeta asked curiously as he watched his teenage daughter pull out the couch and reach behind it.

“Aha,” she said as she pulled the two arm guards out.  “Gotcha.”  In her hands, she held a red and black pair of Demon’s Bite arm guards.  As she examined the weapons, a smile came across her face.  “These,” she said as she held them up for Vegeta to see.  “These are what the sword was formed out of.  After a while, the sword goes back to its normal state – these two arm guards – and creates a new set every time, so now, I have attained a set of one of the most powerful weapons in Assassin history.”

“A set?”  Vegeta questioned with a puzzled look.  “If that was the other assassin’s weapon, then didn’t you take the only one?”

“Not exactly,” Macey countered as she hid the weapons in a secret compartment under the floor.  “Each time the sword is formed out of a set of arm guards, there’s a time limit on how long the sword will stay active, and once the sword is inactive, the set of arm guards return to normal – like these ones here.  So basically, if I take this one set and transform it into the sword, after a while, while the sword is still active, a new set of arm guards will be formed, and then when the sword becomes inactive, the set that the sword was formed from will be recreated.  When I was battling her, she had this set transformed as the sword hidden underground, and she had a pair of the arm guards on her arms, so by the time I had gotten to her, she had already transformed the arm guards once and the new set had already been formed.”

“So, each time the sword is formed, a new set of those arm guards are formed,” Vegeta concluded. 

“Yeah, basically,” Macey nodded.  “But then the original set is recreated.  This is the original set,” she said as she covered her secret compartment back up.

“Strange,” Vegeta said under his breath as he turned back around to the door.

“Awesome,” Macey said under her breath with a smirk as she followed him out the door and locked it behind her.  “So where’re we going?”  She asked Vegeta as she caught up to him.

            “A restaurant called “Melted Taste”,” he replied straightforwardly.

“Hm,” Macey replied in curiousness.  “What do they have?”

“Everything,” he answered.

“Very specific,” she replied in a sarcastic tone.  “Damn,” she said under her breath and she crossed her arms and tried to create heat.

“What’s wrong?”  Vegeta asked as he saw her looking clearly uncomfortable.

“It’s chilly,” she answered as she tried to hold her body tight.  “I forgot to bring a jacket with me.  I was just so excited about having the Demon’s Bite,” she said as she stopped and looked back in the direction of her warehouse.

“Just keep walking,” Vegeta told her as he kept moving forward.  “We’re almost there.”  Macey did as he told and after roughly five more minutes of walking, they came across the restaurant.

            When they walked in the door, the feeling of the heater quickly warmed Macey up. 

“Ahh, much better,” she sighed in relief.

“The booth in the very back,” Vegeta said when the host asked them where they would like to sit.

“Yes, sir,” the host replied.  “Right this way.” The father-daughter duo followed the young host to the booth in the very back of the restaurant, and once they reached the booth, there was a short hesitation when both Vegeta and Macey went to sit on the wall side of the booth so that their backs would be against the wall, and they would be facing the door.  After looking at each other square in the eyes, Macey gave in and sat so that her back would be facing the door – giving Vegeta the ability to face the front door of the restaurant.  “Here are your menus,” the host said as he placed menus in front of them.  “Your waiter will be right with you.  Is there anything else that I can help you with?”

“Will you turn the heater on high?”  Vegeta asked in a demanding tone as he looked down at the menu in front of him.

“Sure thing, sir,” the host replied.  “Anything else?”

“No, that’s all,” Vegeta answered.

“Thanks,” Macey said quietly as she pulled the menu closer to her and shifted like she was uncomfortable in her own skin.

“So,” Vegeta began as he sat leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.  “There’s a lot we need to discuss.”

“Oh yeah?”  Macey replied as she looked around and tried to keep her sights on the door as she continued to shift uncomfortably.  “Like what?”  As Vegeta watched his daughter nervously look around and try to see as much of the front door as possible, he finally stood up and motioned for her to take the end closest to the wall.  Immediately and without a second thought, Macey shot up from her side of the booth and took the end of the booth that Vegeta had opened for her – now letting her face the door with her back against the wall and her body in the corner.  “Thank you,” she said quietly as she comfortably situated herself.

“The side effects of battle,” Vegeta stated quietly as he sat down next to his daughter. 

“Yeah,” she replied quietly as she stared town at the table and began picking at her fork.

“You’ll get used to it,” Vegeta told her as he looked over to his left to see his emotionless looking teenage daughter. 

Macey chuckled.  “You really think that was my first battle?”  She asked him, still refusing to make eye contact.  “I may be only fifteen, but I’ve been fighting in battles since I was seven – that was just the first one I lost.”

“Right,” Vegeta replied as if he knew that was going to be her reply.  “So,” he continued as he leaned forward and rested his folded arms on the table, “you tell me your story, and then I’ll tell you the real one.”

“The real one?”  Macey responded with a confused look and skeptical tone as she finally looked up to Vegeta and made eye contact.

“Yes,” he confirmed.  “Just tell me everything – from the start.”

“I’m not sure you can keep up,” she said with in a disappointed tone as she looked back down at the table.

“Try me,” he replied confidently and serious as he continued to look at Macey.

“If you insist,” Macey shrugged.  “But I need you to promise me something,” she added on in complete seriousness.  “I need you to not tell anyone anything I’m about to tell you,” she began as she looked back up at Vegeta.  “What I tell you here stays between us.”

“Like I told you before, I have no interest in telling anyone anything,” Vegeta assured her.

“Fine,” Macey said as she crisscrossed her legs on her side of the booth and leaned against the wall to her left, “Where do you want me to begin?”  She asked as she finished getting comfortable.

“The beginning,” Vegeta replied.

“Very well,” Macey agreed with a nod.  “Well,” she began, “Fifteen years ago on April 7th, I was born to my father, Doctor Arikane Mors, and my mother, Ina Tacita, but sadly, my mother and father died shortly after I was born, so I was raised solely by my older brother, Kaiser.  When I was four, I was forced to enroll in the Academy – where they teach us to become assassins, and I was told of the mission that I was to carry out – to assassinate all the Saiyans.  At first, I didn’t think anything of it, so I did what I was told without argument.  I studied the Saiyans, trained as hard as I could, and became one of the strongest assassins, but then, as I got older, Kaiser told me how the Saiyans had murdered our mother and caused our father’s death.  At first, I became personally determined to avenge her, but then, when I saw what true evil was, I realized that I didn’t care for the mission that had been bestowed upon me; however, I knew that I couldn’t let anyone know that, especially my brother.  So, when I was sent here a few days ago, I made my mind up, and decided that I wasn’t going to go through with it – out of the hundreds of people who have died by my hands, I decided to walk away from killing the ones who murdered my mother.  When I sat down in that first class in the seat right next to Gohan, I found myself surprised at how nice and outgoing he was, and I knew that he could never hurt an innocent person, and again with his father.  It was a complete opposite of what I had been raised to believe, so I decided that I shouldn’t make five Saiyans pay for the crime committed by one, and as you can imagine, Kaiser wasn’t all too thrilled when he found out about my decision.  That’s all you need to know about my past.  Any questions?”

“One,” Vegeta answered.  “What was the true evil?”

“Battles, senseless murders, destruction.  Take your pick,” Macey said with a slight chuckle.  “Like I told you earlier, that wasn’t my first battle.  At eight years old, once we graduate from the Academy, we are forced to start doing contracts, which may sound all nice and fun until you realize how you’re assigned contracts.  Being an assassin is literally being in like a dog-eat-dog world.  In order to get a contract, we are forced to fight each other – sometimes to the death if no one gives up, and other times in a life and death fight.  We are given three attempts of attaining a contract.  Let’s say that I am fighting for a contract and lose, that’s strike one.  Then I go for another contract and lose, that’s strike two.  And finally, I go for a third contract, but instead of having the ability to give up, it’s a life and death fight – the assassin who loses, dies, and well, let’s just say that I’ve been a lot of people’s third battle.”

“They had eight year olds killing each other over contracts?”  Vegeta asked in shock and disbelief.

“Starting at eight,” Macey answered.  “The last time I fought for a contract was a month ago, but luckily my opponent gave up.”

“So, why are you still here then?”  Vegeta questioned.  “If you’ve decided not to do your mission, and you’re one of the strongest assassins, why not go back?”

“I have my reasons,” she replied with a slight chuckle and a smile.

“So then tell me what they are,” Vegeta said in a demanding tone.

“Strength and freedom,” Macey reluctantly began.  “I know that the Saiyans are one of, if not the strongest, races in the entire universe.  I’ve always wanted to become as strong as I possibly can, and I knew that if I made myself friends with the Saiyans, then I could learn from them.  I’ve already trained with Gohan and his father, so next on my list was to find you and try to convince you to train me, and then when I got arrested and you and your wife took custody of me, I knew that it was to my advantage, so I agreed to it.  Then, on New Planet Phonoi, they limit the things that you’re able to learn.  In the Academy, you’re taught certain things.  One, how to be an assassin.  Two, how to fight battles.  Three, where every main artery, pressure point, and vital organ is, and four, how to route yourself to different planets for assassinations.  When I was studying the Saiyans and the planet that they had been found on – this one – I also learned of this planet’s differences from my planet.  I know it’ll sound strange to you because you’re not used to hearing it, but I actually love Orange Star High School.  The freedom to learn whatever I want helps keep my mind off of the horrible things I’ve done to my fellow assassins, and the whole environment lets me feel like an actual teenager.  I didn’t have a real childhood, so the least I can do is try to have a real teenage life, and all was going perfectly fine until Kaiser smuggled his way in.”

“He what?”  Vegeta replied, clearly taken back.

“He’s undercover at my school as my psychology teacher,” Macey quietly began explaining.  “Says he’s, ‘monitoring’ me.  He even went as far as placing me in a group with Gohan and his girlfriend.  It’s like he’s trying to make it as weird as possible for me.”

“There’s something off about him,” Vegeta pointed out.

“Yeah,” Macey began, “I know he can seem like a jerk, but he just cares too much – that’s all.  He loves being an assassin, so he’s probably one of the most loyal ones.  He may piss me off sometimes and vice versa, but I know that he’ll always come when I need him.”

“So then where was he when you were lying almost dead in that park?”  Vegeta asked with anger starting to build in his voice.

“I told the two of you to stay away, remember?”  Macey reminded him.  “Like I said, he’s loyal, and not just to Queen Enyo, but to me as well.”

“He’s not loyal to you,” Vegeta said quietly with a scoff as he shook his head.  “He’s been lying to you since you were born.”

            “You’re the one who’s lying,” Macey countered with offense in her voice.  “He’s my big brother; I think I know him better than you do.”

“You’re wrong, Macey,” Vegeta insisted.  “You don’t know him.”

“No, I’m not,” she angrily replied through her clenched teeth, almost cutting Vegeta off.  “You know nothing about -,”

“Just stop,” Vegeta said in quiet frustration as he cut Macey off.  “This is why I brought you to a public place.  I knew this is how you’d react.”

“This is how you knew I’d react?”  She said in disbelief.  “What makes you think that you could possibly know anything about me?”  She quietly hissed.

“Because you’re my daughter,” he quickly snapped at her, catching Macey off guard.

“Your what?”  She quietly asked in shock and disbelief as she stared at the man who had just told her that he was her father.

“Now it’s my turn,” Vegeta said as he looked at the shock and confusion on his daughter’s face.  “And I need you to listen to everything I’m about to tell you – I don’t like repeating myself.”


	10. Chapter 10 - Looking in a Mirror

Shock, confusion, anger, sadness – all words to describe how Macey felt once the man sitting next to her told her that he was her real, biological father.  As the waiter came up to the booth, he delivered the meals that had been ordered.  In front of Vegeta, he dropped off three plate-sized steaks cooked medium rare – each with a side of vegetables and soup, and in front of Macey, he dropped off a large order of stuffed green peppers with a side of soup that was identical to the one that Vegeta had ordered.  Noticing the awkward silence, the waiter didn’t say a single word – he simply dropped off the food and walked away. 

            This guy can’t be serious, Macey thought as she continued to stare at Vegeta as her heart began to beat faster.  There’s no way – he has to be lying.  It can’t be possible.  There’s no way he’s my father – Arikane Mors is my father.  “You’re lying,” she finally said through her teeth, “there’s no way you can be telling me the truth.”

“I promise you that everything I’ve told you is the truth,” Vegeta stressed.  “Some of it’s from my memory, and some of it’s from what your brother told me.”

“Kaiser would never tell lies like that.  Even if it were true, why would he tell you if it was supposed to be a big secret from me?  Did he honestly think that you wouldn’t tell me?” Macey defended her older brother.

“Macey, you have got to stop defending him,” Vegeta warned her with hostility in his voice, “he’s been lying to you all your life – open your eyes.”  Macey took her eyes off of him and looked down towards the table in front of her.

“If, by some chance, what you’re telling me is true, then I don’t know whether to thank you or kill you,” she said quietly with tears of anger filling her eyes.  “I don’t know if I should thank you for what you did because if you hadn’t, then I wouldn’t exist, or if I should kill you for what you did to my mother and the pain you caused my father, brother, and thousands of other assassins.”

“I’ve already told you, that was a long time ago,” Vegeta repeated to her in more of a serious tone than before. 

“Do you regret it?”  She asked in a quiet yet angry voice.

“What?”  He counter-questioned as if he wasn’t sure of what he had heard.

“Do you regret it?”  She repeated slower, making sure to emphasize the words as she spoke them to make sure that he heard her.

“I don’t know,” he answered bluntly and honestly.  “I don’t know yet.”

 “You don’t know,” she scoffed as she turned her head towards the wall.  As she stared at the strokes of the paint on the wall next to her, she couldn’t help but to think about how terrified her mother must have been when her body was blasted by an energy blast or the pain that her brother felt when she held him in her arms for the last time.  She closed her eyes, and in her mind, she tried to imagine the scene that Kaiser saw when he was just four years old, and she tried to hear the screams of both her mother and brother.  How could he have done something so evil?  She wondered as tears began to stream down her face with her eyes still closed.  I thought he was trustworthy – I thought wrong, I guess.  My mother – my gorgeous, beautiful mother – her life cut short.  And for what?  Sympathy, he says?  Because he didn’t want to make her watch her son die when the planet was blown up?  That’s all bull crap to me – I refuse to believe that – for now, at least. “I want a DNA test,” she finally said as she opened her eyes back up.  “Then, I’ll decide what I want to do.”

“Fine,” he agreed, “but I promise, it will come back a match.”

“You seem pretty confident,” she said quietly as she still refused to look at him.

“Because I know when I’m looking into a mirror,” Vegeta said in a nonchalant voice as he began to cut one of his steaks and take a bite out of it.  “Tell me, is there a strange birthmark on your lower back?”

“So what if there is?”  Macey asked, sounding aggravated.

“That’s where your tail was – they cut it off when you were born,” Vegeta informed her.  Finding herself at a loss for words, all Macey could do was watch him eat as if nothing was wrong.  Despicable, she thought as she watched him in disgust.

“Move,” she commanded as she glared at the man claiming to be her father.

“Where’re you going?”  He asked with a mouth full of food.

“Why does it matter?”  She snapped at him.  “Didn’t you tell me that you didn’t care what I did?”

“You’re right,” Vegeta shrugged as he set his knife and fork down and stood up out of the booth so that Macey could leave.  “I don’t.”

He has to be lying, Macey tried to convince herself as she scurried away to the bathroom that was only a few feet away from the booth that she shared with Vegeta.  Kaiser might be jerk, but he would never say such things, she thought as she leaned over the sink and looked at herself in the mirror.  But then again, if what he said is true, then why would Kaiser tell him in the first place?  What’s the purpose of that?  If it is true, and Vegeta actually is my biological father, then how am I supposed to kill the man who is responsible for my existence and my mother’s death?  Which value triumphs over the other?  My family or vigilantism?  But at the same time, if he is my real father and Ina was my real mother, then doesn’t that make them both my family?  And if he’s not my real father, why would Kaiser spread such lies – if he even said anything to him at all and Vegeta’s not just making this up?  None of this makes any sense – it’s making me angrier just thinking about it.  One, if not both of them, is lying to me.  And how did he know about my birthmark?  She asked herself as she ran her right hand over the area where her tail once was.  Could he be telling me the truth?  Honestly, our resemblance is undeniable.  As she finished rambling her thoughts off in her head, she looked harder at herself in the mirror, and the face that she saw looking back angered her even more.  His eyes, she thought as she glared at herself.  I have his stupid eyes.  And his nose, his mouth, his skin tone, his hair color – everything!  Unable to control her anger, she balled up her left fist and drove it into the glass – shattering her reflection and causing pieces of glass to cut her knuckles up.  Time to stop playing crybaby, she said as she bottled up the rest of her anger and looked at the area where the mirror once was but was now just a plain wall.  She took a deep breath in and began to walk back out to where the man who had called himself her father was still sitting and eating.  It’s time to find out the truth, she thought as she walked back up to the booth.

“Let’s say that I believe you – that you are my real father,” she began, interrupting Vegeta’s eating and causing him to look up at her, “then that must mean that Kaiser’s been lying to me my whole life, and for whatever reason, decided to tell you everything, so I might as well figure out if Kaiser is in fact lying to me,” Macey concluded as she stood on the outside of the booth.

“So, how are you planning on figuring that out?”  Vegeta asked her as he took a bite of his food.

“The DNA test,” she quickly answered as she watched him continue to eat.  “If it comes back positive that you’re my father, then that answers two questions at once – one, if you’re my actual father, and two, if Kaiser really has been lying to me.  So then, all I need to do is figure out why he decided to tell you everything.”

“And if it comes back negative?”  Vegeta asked her curiously.

“Then all I have to do is find out why you would tell me all that you told me and if you really are the Saiyan who killed my mother,” Macey answered.  “Will you take me to Capsule Corp?”  She asked quietly.

“After you finish your food,” Vegeta bargained with her.  “Your stomach’s been growling for the past hour and a half, and it’s getting annoying.”  As he put another bite of steak in his mouth, he stood up and motioned for his teenage daughter to go in the booth – the same spot where she had been sitting before.  “Eat,” he said as he caught her picking with one of the peppers on the plate with her fork. 

 

…

 

“Come on,” Nemei irritably said to herself as she continued to tear apart Macey’s hideout.  “Where the hell are you?”

Nemei, the assassin who failed at her mission to kill Macey, discovered that an object had been taken from her when Macey was scooped away by Goku – her sword.  “Where the hell could she have hidden it?”  She asked herself as she looked around the torn up warehouse.  The futon that Macey slept on was torn apart, the rug in the center of the room was ripped up, the pages of her textbooks were torn out and spewed all over the floor, and the television and entertainment center was completely destroyed.  “There can only be so many places.”  Kaiser is gonna kill me if I don’t get this done, she thought as she remembered the beating that he had given her earlier that day.  Nemei began walking towards the kitchen – the last part of the warehouse that hadn’t been torn apart yet, and as she did, she noticed a difference in the flooring in one specific area.  What is this?  She wondered as she knelt down and ran her hand in a square shape.  One foot by one foot, she concluded as she figured out that the strange area was a perfectly square shape, and as she knocked on it, she figured out that it was hollowed out. “Really?”  She said with a chuckle as she took out one of her daggers and began to pry at the area.  Have to give her credit though, it matches perfectly with the rest of the flooring.  When she finally managed to open up the makeshift floor compartment, she found herself surprised when she realized that there was nothing in it.  “What?”  she gasped as she stood back on her feet.  Where the hell could she have hidden it?!  She thought in frustration as she slammed the piece of flooring back into place and walked over to the kitchen to begin rummaging through any and everything.  As she made her way through everything in Macey’s kitchen, she finally found the secret compartment where Macey had previously hidden the red folders with the Saiyans’ information in them.  “There’s something here,” she said quietly to herself as she felt a piece of paper with a smooth back, and as she pulled it out, she felt as though she were looking in a mirror.  What the…who’s this?  She wondered in shock as she looked at the woman on the paper.  It’s like I’m…it’s like I’m looking into a mirror. She told herself as she looked at the woman’s beautiful, long, light brown hair and bright green eyes.  Her pale, heavily freckled face was free of any scars, and her pink lips had a small smile on them as she posed for the photo being taken of her.  From the picture, Nemei could tell that it was a promotion picture.  Gold, she thought as she looked at the black and gold robes that were being worn by the woman.  She looks so young to be a gold level – she must have been good at what she did.  Something about her just feels so familiar. Maybe Kaiser knows something about her, she told herself as she folded up the photo and put it in her boot as she continued to rip apart the hideout.

 

…

 

            Miles away in West City in one of the labs inside Capsule Corp, silence filled the air and tensions were high.  As Bulma looked at the young assassin and her husband side by side, she couldn’t help but notice their similarities.

            “Are you sure you wanna do this?”  She asked as she looked at Macey who was standing to Vegeta’s left with her arms crossed exactly like his. 

            “Yes,” she answered sternly.  “Now, can you do it or not?”

“Yeah, I mean, yeah, of course I can,” Bulma confirmed, “but honestly, do you even really need it?  You look exactly like each other.”

“Bulma, can you just do it so that we can move on from this?”  Vegeta barked at his wife.

“Yeah,” Macey added.  “The results of this test determine what I’m going to do next.”

“Fine,” Bulma said as she reached over on her desk and grabbed two cotton swabs.  “Here,” she said as she held one up to Macey, “open.”  Without argument, Macey did what Bulma told her to do and once Bulma got her sample from the teenager, she put it in a test tube and did the same thing with Vegeta.  “There,” she said as she grabbed the two test tubes.  “I’ll have it done in an hour or so.”

            Without saying a word, Macey turned around, walked out of the lab, and headed up stairs to pick out her room. 

            “So,” Bulma began as the automatic door closed behind Macey, “what do you think about this?”  She asked Vegeta in a serious manner.

            “I know she’s mine,” he confirmed as he looked down at his wife who was sitting leaned back in her rolling chair with her arms crossed, “I remember her mother.”

“That’s not what I mean, Vegeta,” she began to specify, “I mean, what do you think about the whole idea?  If this confirms what’s obviously true, then that means that you have a teenage daughter, and let me tell you, teenage girls are a lot different than boys.”

“Two,” he quickly corrected her.

“Wha…what?”  She asked in disbelief.  “What do you mean ‘two’?”

“I didn’t tell Macey this because I’m not completely sure if I buy it, but according to her brother, when Macey was created, the surrogate wanted one of her own, so the doctor who created Macey also created a fraternal twin,” Vegeta explained as he sat down on the table across from his wife and crossed his arms.  “He didn’t tell me anything about her – only that she’s a few minutes older and looks almost exactly like her mother.”

“Well, even when this does come back positive, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s really another one out there,” Bulma suggested as she stood up and walked over to start matching the DNA samples.  “The guy seems kind of sketchy if you ask me, so surely he was lying about something, but I still can’t help but to feel bad for her.  I mean, to feel like you don’t know the truth about yourself is just heartbreaking – especially at that age.  What else did she tell you?”

“Nothing,” Vegeta lied to his wife, keeping his promise to his daughter that nothing said in the restaurant would leave the two of them.  “She’s hard to get through to.”

“Sounds familiar,” Bulma chuckled as she began running her equipment to analyze the DNA.  “Oh, here,” she said as she reached into her lab coat pocket and handed Vegeta a credit card.  “I got this for her.  It has her name on it, so she can use it whenever and wherever she wants, and it’s unlimited.”

“Just what she needs,” Vegeta scoffed.  “Shouldn’t you know better than to give a teenage girl an unlimited credit card.”

“Well, if she’s anything like you, then shopping will be the last thing on her mind,” Bulma chuckled.

“Right,” Vegeta said as he got off of the table and started to walk towards the door.  Giving a teenage girl an unlimited credit card, Vegeta thought at he looked at the solid black credit card in his hand, what is that woman thinking?  After walking out of the lab, he headed towards the stairs and to the floor that most of the rooms were on, and after looking in four rooms, he finally found Macey in one of the larger rooms leaning over a balcony.  The large room that Macey had picked out as her own was bare and had the essentials in it.  Directly across from the door, the first sight was the window that opened up into the balcony.  To the left, was a large dresser, flat screen television on the wall, the door to the connected bathroom, and a desk with a rolling chair.  To the right was the large king sized bed that was neatly made up and had a nightstand on either side of the bed.

            “Bulma’s running the DNA test right now,” Vegeta said as he stood in the doorway and looked at his daughter’s back facing him, but what he couldn’t see were the tears of pain and anger that were streaming down her face.  “Hey,” he said, trying to get her attention, “did you hear me?”

            “Yes,” she quietly answered, still keeping her back towards him as she looked out at all the people walking around the city and driving to and from places.  Noticing that something was wrong with her, Vegeta walked into the room and sat on the side of her bed closest to the balcony. 

“Bulma gave me this to give you,” he said as he tried to hold out the card to his daughter.  “It’s an unlimited credit card with your name on it.  Seems kinda foolish if you ask -,”

“I don’t care,” Macey emotionlessly replied – cutting Vegeta off.

“What’s your problem?”  He asked her, sounding annoyed.  “I’ve already told you what the results are going to say; I don’t see why you’re so upset about it.”

“I don’t care about that anymore,” she said quietly as she tried to stop her tears from coming down her face.  “I don’t care if you’re my father.  I don’t care about my mission.  I don’t care about my brother.  I just don’t care anymore.”

“So then what’s with the attitu-,” Vegeta began before being cut off again.

“Pax,” she answered quietly and angrily as she still refused to turn around to look at Vegeta.  “Someone killed her and whoever they are is still out there,” Macey said in a serious tone.  “I hadn’t thought about her today because of everything else going through my head, but now that it’s in the process of getting cleared up, she’s all I can think about.”

“Seems like you two were close,” Vegeta speculated as he set the card on her nightstand and tried to get her to talk to him.

“I’m not even sure anymore,” she scoffed as she shook her head in disbelief.  “Even after learning what I learned, I still can’t help but to feel pain knowing that she’s gone.”

“After learning what you learned?”  Vegeta asked with a raised eyebrow.  With the tears beginning to dry up, Macey took a deep breath in and turned around to face Vegeta who was still sitting on her bed.

“Saturday night, there was a rookie assassin who tried to attack me in my sleep, but I ended up killing him first,” Macey began to explain as she sat down on the bed next to Vegeta.  “In his boot, there was a black folder with my information in it – meaning that it was a legal contract given to him by the C.I.A; however, when I called Kaiser over to help me figure out what was going on, he concluded that it was a forged legal contract.  So basically, it was an illegal contract made to look legal, so it could have been ordered by anyone who knew what they were doing.  When I was almost killed in the park, the girl I was battling told me that it was Pax who had created the contract and gave it to the rookie assassin, and that’s why she was arrested and then later assassinated.  When I was put into the same cell as her, she told me that she was in there for an illegal contract, but failed to mention that it was the one she created for me.  When I first got to the park to investigate where her body was dumped, I realized how close it was to my hideout, so at the time, I thought that she might have been trying to find my hideout so that she could have someplace to stay, but now that I look back on it, I think she might have been coming to kill me herself.”

“Why would she try to have you assassinated?”  Vegeta asked her seriously.

“I hurt her more than anyone has ever hurt her,” Macey said quietly as tears began to fill her eyes again, but she looked away and tried to hide them from him.

“Mace,” Vegeta said, using a nickname that he had come up with for her as he tried to get his daughter to look at him.  “What’d you do?”

“I destroyed her family,” Macey quietly answered, still looking away as tears began to quietly stream down her face.

“You what?”  Vegeta asked in shock.

“It wasn’t my fault,” she said as she sniffled.  “It was an order.  I was only following orders.”

“What happened?”  Vegeta asked as he put his right hand on his daughter’s left shoulder and tried to get her took look at him.

“You were once one of the most ruthless warriors in the universe – the Prince of all Saiyans.  You could never understand the guilt that drowns me,” she said quietly as she looked at her father will her eyes filled with tears.  “All that matters it that I need to find out who killed her – for her sake, and that comes before anything else.”  Macey walked towards the balcony again, but instead of leaning over the railing and looking down to the ground below her, she leapt up and made her way to the top of Capsule Corp where she sat and looked at the world around her.

            Maybe you’re right; maybe you’re wrong, Vegeta thought as he stayed sitting on the bed and looked out of the window that his daughter had gone out of.  Either way, this is still too much for a fifteen-year-old to have to deal with.  Vegeta decided that it would be best to leave her alone, and so he walked out of her room and made his way to his and Bulma’s room where he changed into his training gear before heading down to his gravity room.

            “Pax,” Macey said quietly with tears still streaming down her face and her heart continuing to break as she kept thinking about what she had done to her old best friend.  “I’m so sorry, Pax.”  As day turned into night, Macey remained on the roof of Capsule Corp, and Vegeta was finishing up his training when Bulma came out of her lab with the final DNA test results. 

            “Vegeta,” she said as she caught her husband walking down the hallway from his gravity room with the paper in her hand.  “Here you go,” she said as she gave the folded up paper to her husband, “I thought you might wanna give them to her.”

“Yeah,” he said as he opened the paper and took a look at the conclusions, “it’s just as I thought.”  Vegeta folded the paper back up and headed to the roof where he knew his daughter was still sitting.  “Hey,” he said as he flew up to the roof and landed in front of Macey.

            “What do you want?”  She demanded to know as she looked up at him.  “And what’s with the getup?”

“Training,” he said bluntly.  “Here you go,” he said as he handed the paper to her.

“Is this the results?”  She asked as she held the paper in her hand and looked up at the man claiming to be her father.

“Just open it,” he commanded her as he pointed to the paper.  With little care, she sighed and did as she was told, and once she opened up the paper, she instantly knew who had been lying to her – her older brother – the man who had raised her since she was an infant.

“So, it is true,” she said as she looked at the positive paternity results.

“Now do you believe me?”  Vegeta asked as he crossed his arms and glared down at his daughter. 

“I guess I don’t have a choice now,” she shrugged.  “Although, I wish you had been lying to me instead of Kaiser.”

“I told you to stop defending him,” Vegeta told her as he began to get angry at the sound of his name.

“I know,” she said quietly as she looked back down at the paper, “but now, I have more questions than answers.”

“Like what?”  Vegeta questioned, demanding to know.

“Well, let’s see,” Macey began, “why would he feel the need to tell you the truth instead of me?  Why has he been lying to me my whole life?  And should I kill you or not?”  She listed off her questions with anger beginning to fill her eyes at the last one.  “And not to mention, that doesn’t begin to answer who killed Pax and why I was ambushed in the park.”

“Let me ask you something,” Vegeta began as he squatted down in front of his sitting daughter.  “Do you regret your life?”

“What?”  Macey replied in confusion as she looked up to him.

“Being alive,” he restated.  “What do you live for?”  He asked her.  “What’s the reason you get out of bed every day?”

“I’m a vigilante,” she replied as she looked at him with harsh eyes.  “I avenge those who can’t avenge themselves – like my mother whom you mercilessly killed.”

“But had that not happened – had I never come to Planet Phonoi and met and killed your mother, you wouldn’t exist right now, and all those people who you kill in the name of justice would still be alive,” Vegeta tried to stress to her.  “You’re my daughter, and as my daughter, you have the blood of the royal Saiyans flowing through your veins and power that’s unrivaled.  You and I aren’t that different.”

“Aren’t that different?”  She said in disbelief.  “You murdered innocent people and destroyed countless planets – including my mother and my planet!”

“Didn’t you just tell me that you destroyed your best friend’s family?”  He countered her, trying to get her in a catch twenty-two.

“I was blindly following orders because that’s how I was raised.  I was raised to believe that the mission comes before anything else, but I changed when I saw how much pain I caused people when the innocent died by my hand,” she said through her gritted teeth.  “I found comfort in this planet when I was studying it for my mission, and when I got here and completed the training mission they sent me on, I made my decision, and I rebelled – went against everything I was raised to believe even if that meant getting ambushed in a park and almost being killed by people who were supposed to be my comrades.  I tore away from the corruption of the Order and decided that I was going to be the person that the innocent could befriend and the guilty would fear.”

Vegeta chuckled and stood back up.  “It’s as I said,” he said with a smirk.  “We aren’t that different, Mace.”

“Then prove it,” she challenged him as she stood up to look him in the eyes.

“How?” He scoffed.  “And why?”

“Figure out a way,” she said angrily as she took the paper with the positive results on it and slammed it onto Vegeta’s chest before leaping down off of the roof and landing back on her balcony.  As she entered her room, she heard Bulma calling down everyone for dinner.  My little brother, she thought as a small smile crept on her face.  Without a second thought, she opened the door of her room and once she stepped out into the hallway, the smell of the delicious dinner waiting to be eaten filled her nostrils. 

            “Tell me something,” Vegeta said as he appeared behind Macey and placed his hand on her shoulder.  “Who was the girl who attacked you?”

“Why does it concern you?”  She turned around to snap at him as the smile on her face disappeared.

“Just answer the question,” he ordered her.

“Fine,” she sighed.  “I don’t know,” she answered honestly, “I’ve never met her before.”

“Do you remember what she looked like?”  He asked her in a nonchalant tone.

“I don’t know,” Macey replied with an irritated tone.  “From what I could see, she had long, light brown hair, bright green eyes, and a large scar on the side of her face, now tell me why it matters!”  She snapped at him in anger and annoyance.

“It’s nothing,” he replied as he made his way past her.  Her twin, he thought as he made his way down the hallway and down into the large dining room.  If that doesn’t describe her, then I don’t know what does.  Dammit.  I thought one was bad enough.

            As the family ate their dinner, which included every kind of food imaginable, there was an awkward silence between Vegeta and Macey while Vegeta couldn’t do anything but try to figure out how to find the girl who attacked Macey in the park, and Macey socialized with her younger half-brother, Trunks and her step mother, Bulma. 

            “Well,” Macey said as she stood up from the table, “I should probably get going.”

“Huh?”  Bulma said in confusion.  “Where’re you going?”

“Back to my hideout,” she answered as she began walking towards the front of the large Capsule Corp house.  “Thank you for the food.”

“You can’t just leave!”  Bulma yelled as she stood up and walked towards the teenage assassin.  “You’re legally in our custody, so you can’t just go roam around whenever you feel like it.”

            “Let her go,” Vegeta said casually as he continued to eat and think.

“Vegeta,” Bulma snapped as she turned towards her husband.  “You can’t just let a fifteen-year-old go out on her own – especially at night in the city.  Besides, her hideout is too far away.”

“She can handle herself, Bulma,” Vegeta insisted.  “Just let her go.”

“Whatever,” Bulma gave in, “It’s 7PM right now, so just make sure you’re back by midnight.  You have school in the morning.”

“Sure,” Macey said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and continued to make her way into the night. 

As the night grew darker, Vegeta, Bulma, and their son were all fast asleep in bed when suddenly, Bulma was awakened when her cell phone began to ring on her nightstand.

            “Hello?”  She tiredly answered the phone.  “Yes, this is she,” she answered the voice on the other line.  “She WHAT?!”  She yelled as she flung up out of bed and quickly began getting dressed.  “We’ll be right there!” She said as she wrote down an address on her hand, hung up the phone, and dropped it on the floor.  “Vegeta!”  She yelled as she shook her husband awake.  “Vegeta, come on, get dressed!”  She yelled as she threw a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt at him.

            “What the hell, Bulma?!”  He replied in an angry tone as he flung up out of bed.  “What is your problem?!  It’s three in the morning!”  He yelled as he pointed at the clock on his nightstand.

“I know that!”  Bulma frantically said as she tied her hair up in a messy bun, “and Macey’s not here!”

“So what?”  Vegeta scoffed.  “She can take care of herself.  She’s probably at her hideout.”

“No, Vegeta,” Bulma angrily countered.  “She’s been arrested again.”

“She what?!”  Vegeta asked in disbelief and shock.  “For what?!”

“I don’t know,” Bulma told him.  “They wouldn’t tell me.  We have to go down to this address and talk to some C.I.A agent.”

C.I.A, Vegeta thought as he remembered what Macey had told him earlier. 

“See what happens when you let your daughter run around and do whatever she wants?!”  Bulma snapped at him.  “She gets in trouble with the C.I.A!”

Vegeta shot a glare at her.  “Let’s go,” he said as he quickly got dressed and headed out of their bedroom.  “There’s a lot that you don’t know that I need to explain to you on the way.”


	11. Chapter 11 - So Naive

In the center of West City stood the C.I.A.’s headquarters.  Inside, it was filled with the normal offices and employees, but under the building was a whole different world.  With no access point through the actual building, employees and prisoners entered through the main C.I.A. headquarters garage to get to the one of many black sites – known as Black Site One.  When entering the garage in hopes to head to the black site, a certain area for entering the it was set aside.  In this area, sensors measured the tire tracks, size, and make to ensure that it was a C.I.A. registered vehicle.  Then, the driver of the vehicle had to have their eyes scanned to make sure that they were C.I.A. employees who were authorized to be at the black site.  Once approved, the part of the floor that measured the tires would drop down as a platform, and once it stopped, the approved vehicle would enter the underground road and begin to head towards the black site which was located underground, ten miles away from the main headquarters.  Standing in the garage, next to a black SUV, two C.I.A. agents stood watch as they waited for the legal guardians of Macey.

            “I think I understand,” Bulma said as she and Vegeta began to drive into the garage. 

            “Yeah, well, if they’ve caught her, then there’s no telling what will happen to her,” he said quietly, sounding a little bit worried as he looked out the window.  As they drove into the garage, their headlights beamed off of the black SUV that had been waiting for them, and when they got close enough, the agents pulled out their guns from their holsters and aimed them at the car as they walked up to them.

            “Identification,” one of the agents sternly said to the couple.  Without hesitation, they both pulled out their ID’s and handed them over to the gun drawn agents.  “Right this way,” the agent said as he opened and his partner opened the driver’s door and passenger door to let the two of them out.  “Kaneko, go park their vehicle,” he commanded the agent that had opened Vegeta’s door.

            The hell is going on?  Vegeta wondered as he and Bulma were led over to the black SUV.

“Get in,” the agent said as he opened Bulma’s door – the back driver’s side passenger door – and as Bulma got in, Vegeta opened the front seat passenger door and got in, followed by the agent who got in the driver’s seat.

            “Do you wanna tell us what’s going on?”  Bulma asked in frustration.  “I don’t like guns being pointed at me.”

“Bulma, stop it,” Vegeta said as he stared ahead at the dark garage.  “I’m sure we’ll find out what’s going on.”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss anything with you here and now,” the agent said as he leaned out of the driver’s side window for his eyes to scan.  After being approved, the platform with the SUV on it with the three inside of it dropped to the underground road – catching Bulma and Vegeta by surprise.  Once they were completely on the ground, the agent turned on the headlights and began driving the ten miles to the underground C.I.A. black site. 

 

…

 

            In an interrogation room at the black site, Macey sat across the table from a C.I.A. agent and did nothing but stare at him in disbelief.  The room, was brightly lit, the walls were pure white, and the floor was white marble.  The table that she was chained to was cold and made of steel, and the air conditioner was on full blast. 

            “So,” Macey said in a challenging tone.  “You really won’t let me sit on that side?”  She asked the interrogator as she stared at him.

“Would that make you more comfortable?”  He asked in a pretending, fake voice.

“Yes, sir,” she replied in a sarcastically kind tone.

“Then absolutely not,” he said sternly. 

Hah, she thought with a subtle smirk as she sat with her back against the wall and her front facing the door.  Joke’s on you.  “So, why did you drag me here?”  She asked, starting to get an attitude in her voice.

“You know why, Dea,” the agent answered in a casual tone as he flipped through a manila folder, “or should I call you “Macey”?  Which one do you prefer?”

“I really don’t know why I’m here,” Macey honestly replied as she watched the agent, “I’ve been completing contracts when I get them.”

“It’s come to our attention that you were assigned illegal contracts,” the agent informed her, “and not only that, but you were also arrested on serious charges.”

“An illegal contract?”  Macey asked, pretending to be shocked.  “What do you mean by that?”

“This,” the agent replied as he laid out five pieces of paper in front of her. “None of these were assigned by the C.I.A., and we’ve received information that you were assigned these contracts.”  Before Macey even took a look at the contracts, she knew what they were – the Saiyans that she had been assigned to kill. 

“I may have been assigned them, but I haven’t been working them,” she defended herself.

 “I said that you were assigned them,” the agent clarified, “I didn’t say that you were working them.  We know you haven’t been working them.  After your little arrest, it popped up in our database that Macey Evans’ fingerprints matched Dea Tacita’s, and we saw that you were put in the custody of Bulma Briefs and her husband,” the agent informed her, “this man right here,” he said as he pointed to Vegeta’s contract.

“So, what of it?”  Macey replied in confusion.

“And when Mrs. Briefs ran that little DNA test to convince you that Vegeta was your father, she didn’t know, but the results were uploaded into the worldwide DNA center which we have access to, so when your DNA popped up again, we found out that he’s your real father,” the agent finished telling her.

“So,” Macey said with a scoff, “you know everything don’t you?”

“Indeed, we do,” the agent confirmed.

“Then why the hell am I sitting here?”  She demanded to know.  “I haven’t done anything wrong in the C.I.A.’s eyes.  I’m not working any illegal contracts, and I’ve been working legal contracts as they come to me.”

“Wrong,” the agent quickly countered her, “you were arrested for carrying your weapons out in public – that’s reason enough to issue a legal execution warrant on you.”

“If you’re going to kill me, kill me, but I’m pretty sure that the Order has already beaten you to it,” Macey argued, “ever since they found out that I wasn’t going to assassinate the Saiyans, they’ve been after me, but you already knew that.”  She said as she looked to her right – towards the room next to her.

“I’m aware of that, and because of your refusal to assassinate the Saiyans, we feel confident that your loyalty lies with the C.I.A., and we want to make a deal with you, Dea,” the agent finally admitted.

“Hah,” she chuckled in shock, “a deal?  Since when has the C.I.A. ever made a deal with an assassin?”

“We believe that there is corruption in the Order,” he told her as he ignored her question.

“You don’t say?”  She replied sarcastically.

The agent looked at Macey with a stone face.  “Do you realize how serious a corrupt assassin is?  Especially to an underground organization?  A corrupt assassin could very well start a war with the C.I.A. or start a civil war among the assassins.  If a war against the C.I.A. begins then the C.I.A. will have no choice but to disband, and then it would become easier for foreign invaders to take over not only this country, but the world.  And if a civil war between the assassins starts, and the wrong side wins, then there will be no more organization and it could be possible for the assassins to take over the planet.”

“Sounds awful,” Macey replied in an uninterested tone.

“Are you aware of who the girl sitting in the room next to you is?”  The agent asked her in a serious voice.

“Enlighten me,” Macey replied in a bored voice as she sat back in her chair.

“First, let me start off by saying that every assassin has their DNA along with their true name added into the worldwide data base when they first join the Academy.  To make a long story short, we don’t go through and match DNA, but if a match is automatically found by either an arrest or a DNA test that’s uploaded to the database, then it’s brought to our attention.  When you had Mrs. Briefs run that DNA test between you and Vegeta, another match besides you popped up on our database.  Because Mrs. Briefs didn’t have the DNA sample of the assassin in the room next to you or access to our database, she didn’t catch it, but we did.  The assassin who attempted to kill you in the park and at your hideout has DNA that is a fifty percent match to yours – meaning that you both contain Vegeta’s DNA as well as Ina Tacita’s DNA.”

“So, what’re you trying to say?”  Macey asked in an aggravated tone as she shook her head.

“She’s your fraternal twin, Dea,” the agent put it bluntly.  “So, what I need to find out from you is why she would be trying to kill you because she’s not talking to us, and there was never a legal contract placed on you by us.”

Fraternal twin?  Macey thought in disbelief as she stared down at the table.  I guess it wouldn’t be the first time that I learned about surprise family members. “How am I supposed to know?”  She asked quietly, still looking down at the table.  “Can you just cut to the chase and tell me why I’m sitting here shackled to a table and chair?”

“Because you’re deadly,” the agent replied honestly, “and that’s another reason why we’re going to offer you a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”  Macey said as she smirked and looked up at the sound of the compliment that had just been given to her.

“From examining Nemei, the girl in the room next to you, we can tell that she’s been being beaten and most likely brainwashed,” the agent confessed.  “You’re an extremely strong, powerful, and smart assassin, so to issue an execution warrant for you would be a waste.  So, for this deal, I can assure you that the C.I.A. will attempt to protect you from any assassin targeting you because of an illegal contract placed on you, wipe your entire record clean, give you access to the C.I.A.’s databases, and grant you full immunity, but in return, we need you to work for us.”

“Work for you?”  Macey questioned with a raised eyebrow.  “And what exactly would this consist of?”

“Like I said earlier, we believe that there’s corruption in the Order,” the agent reminded Macey. 

“I can give you one name,” Macey interrupted the agent, “Kaiser Tacita.”

“Kaiser?”  The agent questioned in disbelief.  “You mean as in your brother?”

“That’s right,” Macey nodded.  “He’s been lying to me since I was a child, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s the corrupt one.”

“Kaiser has always been a loyal assassin,” the agent countered Macey.  “He’s always completed legal contracts, and not once have I ever seen his name come across our database for an arrest or heard word of him working an illegal contract.”

“That you know of,” Macey chuckled.  “He may be a lying, manipulative asshole, but he’s a genius – I’ll give him that.  Besides, because he’s been lying to me, I have no problem selling him out if it means saving myself.”

“Very well,” the agent nodded.  “Your mission, formally assigned by the C.I.A. is to find the corrupt assassin, assassinate the corrupt assassin, and work whatever contract we give you.”

“I have one condition,” she bargained.  “I refuse to work any contract that I don’t approve of.  I will not work a contract if I don’t deem the target a menace.”

“Deal,” the agent agreed.  “Do I hear ‘deal’ on your end?”

“Not yet,” Macey replied as she stared at the agent who was still sitting across from her.  “I’m sure there are guidelines to this deal,” she speculated.  “So, tell me, what are they?”

“Very smart,” the agent said with a chuckle, “here,” he said as he pulled out a piece of paper with typing on it and set it in front of Macey for her to read.

 

**Rules for C.I.A. Deal for Dea Tacita/Macey Evans/Macey Briefs**

 

  1. Tacita/Evans/Briefs must remain in the full custody of Vegeta and Bulma Briefs until the time she is eighteen (18) years of age.
  2. Tacita/Evans/Briefs must attend Orange Star High School, be put back into her rightful school level (High School Freshman), and must attend at least three (3) days a week, and miss no more than one (1) month of school total per year.
  3. Tacita/Evans/Briefs must be with at least one (1) of her legal guardians if she is out after midnight and she is not working a lead or a contract.
  4. Tacita/Evans/Briefs must check in with her designated C.I.A. agent at least five (5) times a week but no more than once a day.
  5. Returning to the Order or accepting a contract from the Order is extremely prohibited and will result in an execution contract. Note: does not restrict socialization to anyone in the Order, but speaking of the deal made with the C.I.A. to anyone who has not agreed to the same deal will result in an execution contract.



 

“Seems fair,” she shrugged.  “Besides, I like Orange Star High – staying there longer will actually be fun.”

“Glad to hear it,” the agent nodded.  “So does this mean that you are going to accept our deal?”

“One more thing,” Macey said as she looked up at the agent.  “I want my father to be offered the same deal – I think he could be of great help.”

“Way ahead of you,” the agent informed her.  “We’ve called Bulma and your father down here to offer them the same deal – with customized rules of course, but if it’s rule number five that has you worried, then don’t fret.  We are convinced that they each possess certain skills that will be beneficial to not only you but to the C.I.A. as well.”

“And what about Nemei?”  She asked with a serious look on her face.

“Nemei needs help, Dea,” the agent began sadly explaining.  “Just from looking at her, I could tell that she’s been through a lot, and from trying to ask her questions, I could tell that she’s been mentally scarred as well.  Please, don’t worry about her.  She’ll be safe – we’re pulling her from the Order as well and placing her under high level security while she gets the help that she needs.  I believe that once she gets well, she’ll be able to provide us with some beneficial information.”

“Right,” Macey quietly agreed.  “There’s one more thing I need freedom to investigate,” she began to bargain again.

“Shoot,” the agent said, giving Macey the go ahead to lay out her last condition.

“I want free reign to do whatever it takes to find Pax Harmonia’s killer,” Macey began, “and when I find him or her, I want full immunity to assassinate them.”

“I understand the relationship that you had with Pax,” the agent informed her, “so I can see why you would want this.  After all, guilt is a powerful thing.”  Without saying a word, Macey stared harshly at the agent as if she had been offended by what he had just said to her.  “Fine,” he agreed, “whatever it takes.”

“You have yourself a deal,” Macey said with confidence and gave the agent a nod.  Upon receiving her agreement to the deal, the agent stood up, walked over to her, and began to undo her shackles.  “You know I could have easily undone these, right?”  She said in a cocky tone.

“I knew you wouldn’t,” the agent chuckled as he undid her leg shackles.  “It’s too easy for you.”

            Out in the hallway, unbeknownst to Macey, her father and step-mother stood on the other side of the two-way wall, and as they heard and saw Macey agree to the deal that had been offered to her, they signed the deal and guidelines just as she was doing once she was unchained.  As Vegeta finished signing his copy, he walked over to the room that the agent told Macey that her twin sister was in, and once he was over there, he saw the unsettling sight of his other daughter sitting in the room, on the floor, dressed in white scrubs, and her back against the wall in the furthest corner from the door

            “Is there something wrong, sir?”  An agent asked Vegeta as he walked up next to him.

            “Yeah,” he began.  “Why is there a muzzle on my daughter?”  He asked angrily as he turned his glare towards the agent standing beside him.

“She tried to bite everyone who went in there, and then when she wasn’t biting at us, she started biting herself to the point that she was bleeding so badly that we had to change her into those scrubs.  We had to do something to make her stop hurting herself,” the agent quietly and sadly explained before walking away.

            So then, why was I told that I had three execution orders on me?  Macey wondered as she began to walk out of the room.  According to the assassins at my ambush, one of them was legal, so that means that one of them came from the C.I.A.  What’re the odds that that’s a bunch of bull crap?  I can understand the two illegal execution orders, but the legal one doesn’t make sense – especially if they wanted to make a deal with me.  As Macey walked out of the room, she looked to her left and saw Bulma talking to one of the agents, and when she looked to her right, she saw her father standing in front of the room that Nemei was being kept in.  “Hey,” she said quietly as she walked up and stood on the right side of him.

            “Do you wanna tell me what happened?”  He asked in a demanding tone as he continued to look at his other daughter.  “How did the two of you get here?”

“I left Capsule Corp, headed to my hideout, found her tearing it apart, we fought, and then we were broken apart and arrested by the C.I.A. agents that had been following me,” Macey said plainly.  “Do you wanna tell me why you didn’t mention that I might have a twin?”  She asked as she glared at Vegeta.

“I wanted to be certain that it was true,” Vegeta answered as he kept looking at Nemei.  “I have to admit; I’m surprise you took that deal so quickly.”

“I know when I’m being given the advantage,” she chuckled.  “I knew that if I took the deal, then that’s just one less contract on my head that I have to worry about and one less organization that I have to worry about pissing off.  Besides, they’re giving me everything I want – complete access to the C.I.A.’s databases, free reign to find out who killed Pax, and the ability to figure out what else my brother’s been lying to me about.”

“I’m sure you could have done that on your own,” Vegeta said as he looked down at his daughter.

“You’re right,” she nonchalantly admitted.  “However, if I did and got caught by the C.I.A., they’d put a legal execution order on me, and a lot more assassins are willing to carry out a legal order, so I knew that it would eliminate that risk.  I can handle the ones who are coming after me for the illegal contracts.”

“Smart girl,” he said with a smirk as he turned his attention back towards Nemei.

“You know me,” she said as she copied her father.  “I’m also going to get revenge for her,” she said quietly as she looked at her suffering twin.  “Someone did this to her, and if I had to bet, with all that’s going on, it was probably Kaiser.”

“Well, I’m glad you stopped defending him,” Vegeta chuckled.  “I told you that there was something off.”

“I should probably just assassinate him now,” Macey shrugged.

“So then do it, and stop talking about doing it,” Vegeta said with aggravation.  “Isn’t that the whole reason you’re in this mess right now?  Because you wouldn’t just carry out your mission?”

“It’s too easy,” she countered.  “Besides, if I kill him now, then I won’t be able to answer my questions.  I wanna know what his game is.  I believe that he’s been playing my sister and me, so now it’s time that someone plays him – use him to my advantage.”

“What’s your plan?”  Vegeta asked with genuine curiosity as he looked back down at Macey. 

“Not sure yet,” she answered.  “I’ll come up with something.  Besides, he’s not my only target”

“Huh?”  Vegeta said with a raised eyebrow.  “Who’s the other?”

“Can’t talk here,” Macey said quietly and quickly as she noticed an agent walking towards her.

            “Miss Tacita,” one of the agents called out as he walked towards Macey and Vegeta with a black folder in his hands.

“Great,” she said under her breath once she saw the folder.  “What is it?”  She demanded to know.

“New contract,” he said seriously as he handed the folder to her.  “Name is Kiso Yukisane,” he began to explain as she took the folder and opened it up.  “We believe that his crime may fit your preferences.  “According to our intel, he’s guilty of treason for the Royal Military and may be unstable.”

“What’s your point?”  Macey asked as she closed the folder and began to hand it back to the agent.  “Pretty sure the Order believes that I’m guilty of the same thing.”

“We’ve received reports that he’s hidden his weapons in an underground storage unit, and we believe that if he gets any more unstable, he’ll begin causing terror in the city.  He was a sharpshooter during his time in the military, so we can only assume that he’s loaded up on snipers and long range weapons.  Your mission is to assassinate him before he hurts anyone, retrieve his weapons, and turn them over to the C.I.A.,” the agent told Macey of her mission.

“He’s going to hurt innocent people?”  Macey asked to make sure she heard him right.

“We believe so, but the main reason for the contract is his treason,” the agent informed her.

“How long do I have to complete it?”  She asked as she closed the folder and held it in her hand.

“One month,” the agent said, “just like before.”

“Consider it done,” Macey agreed.  “Might as well put a stop to it before it begins.”

“Thank you very much Miss Tacita,” the agent said as he bowed to her.

So naïve, she thought with a chuckle as she watched the agent turn and walk away.

“You’re planning something,” Vegeta deduced as he watched the smile on his daughter’s face.

“What?”  She said, pretending to be taken back, “Me?  No, never,” she said sarcastically.

“Look,” Vegeta said, “as I said before, you can do what you want – I’m not going to stop you, and I know that you’re not going to let anyone help you with anything; however, you will wear some form of armor while you’re on missions and in battle.”

“I’m what?”  She said in disbelief with a chuckle.

“You heard me,” Vegeta said sternly.

“I can’t wear heavy, bulky armor when I’m on assassinations,” Macey argued.  “It’ll restrict me from moving quickly and quietly.”

“It’s not heavy, bulky armor,” Vegeta told her.  “It’s like the vest that I was wearing last night,” he began.  “Bulma makes it, and it’s made from a special material that’s hard to cut through but weighs less than a feather.  You almost died the other night, but had you been wearing something to protect your upper body, you would’ve been fine.”

“Fine,” she reluctantly agreed, knowing that there was no way to argue her way out of it, “but it needs to be either all black or black and gray so that I don’t have to worry about being seen as easily.”

“I’ll get Bulma to start working on it,” Vegeta said as he turned and walked back towards his wife.  “Come on,” he said when he noticed that Macey wasn’t following him.  “You have to be at school by eight.”

            Okay, Macey thought as she followed Vegeta and Bulma back to the car that had brought them there, list of things to figure out.  One, what else is Kaiser lying about?  Two, why would Kaiser tell Vegeta that he’s my father?  Three, why do I have a secret twin?  Four, what is Kaiser planning?  Five, who killed Pax?  Six, has Kaiser been abusing Nemei?  Seven, is Kaiser a victim being controlled like a puppet, or is he the mastermind behind all this?  Eight, what does Nemei know?  Nine, do I kill my father to avenge my mother?  And finally, where is Agent Berry?  While driving the ten miles back to the car that Vegeta and Bulma had come in, the C.I.A. SUV was filled with silence.  Silence from Bulma due to her disbelief of everything she had learned.  Silence from Vegeta because of his anger due to the state of his other daughter.  And silence from Macey as she stared out the window and thought about everything she needed answered.  The more she thought about everything she needed to know, the angrier she got and the more she wanted to take her mind off of it.  I’m going to make him suffer, she told herself as she thought about finding the mysterious agent. 

            “Hey,” Bulma said as she leaned over to her step-daughter sitting next to her in the back seat.

            “What?”  She answered sounding aggravated.

“Are you alright?”  Bulma asked with concern for her step-daughter.

“Yeah,” Macey said quietly as she continued to stare out of the window.

“Really?”  Bulma skeptically asked.  “It doesn’t seem like it.”

            “She just wants to go to school,” Vegeta butted in, remembering what Macey had told him in the restaurant about Orange Star High School, “leave her alone.”  I know she has a lot on her mind right now – probably more questions than answers.  She’s too young to have to deal with this.  They’re basically using her to start a war, but at the same time, she’s using them.  Can’t say that I’m surprised, after all, she’s my daughter, he thought as a proud smirk came across his face at the thought of Macey being his.

Thank you, dad, she thought with a small smirk as she heard Vegeta tell Bulma what she wanted to say.


	12. Chapter 12 - Anonymous

After the silent drive back to the car that Vegeta and Bulma had arrived in, the trio got in the car and began to head back to Capsule Corp.  As Bulma drove, Vegeta sat in the passenger seat, Macey sat in the backseat, and all three remained quiet.

            “What time is it?”  Macey asked in a quiet voice, thus breaking the silence.

            “Six-fifteen,” Vegeta answered as he looked at the clock on the muted radio, “why?”

“I need to go back to my hideout and change,” she answered quietly.  “I don’t have any clothes at Capsule Corp, and my hideout is closer to my school.”

            “Sure thing,” Bulma said as she turned left instead of right to head back to Macey’s warehouse, “just tell me which way to go.”  The silence filled car made its way to the area that Macey knew best – the warehouse district where her warehouse was.  As Bulma pulled into the alleyway that led to the hideout, Macey looked at the time and saw that she had roughly thirty minutes to get dressed and get to school. “This one?”  Bulma asked as she pulled up in front of Macey’s warehouse.

“Yes,” Macey replied quietly as she unlocked the door, got out, and headed towards her front door.  As she walked up to her front door, she wasn’t surprised to find that the lock had been busted because when she came across Nemei earlier that morning, she was tearing apart her warehouse.  As Macey entered the hideout, she shook her head at everything that had been torn apart and destroyed.  The pages of her textbooks were scattered all over the place, the place where she had laid her head at night was ripped apart, the expensive television that Vegeta had gotten her was smashed and all over the floor, her entertainment center with all of her DVDs and knickknacks from her childhood were destroyed, her floor where Nemei had pulled up and furiously slammed the opening to her secret compartment was broken, the drawers in her dresser were pulled out and everything in them was spewed all over the floor, and everything in her kitchen was torn apart.  Her refrigerator was knocked over on the floor with all the food and liquid seeping out of it, and her counters were ripped out of the walls.  Her bathroom mirror was shattered as if something could have been behind it, her sink was pulled out of the wall, and the shower curtain was lying on the floor.  Slowly, Macey walked over to her clothes that were all over the floor, and as her heart began to break, she quickly gathered up an outfit that looked clean enough – a black t-shirt with a black and white striped vest, hot pink skinny jeans, a black belt, and a pair of black, leather calf high boots.  After changing into one of her only clean outfits, she went to the bathroom, found a large piece of the broken mirror, looked at herself in it, and as she did, she began to tear up more at the sight of the scar and decided to turn her eyes and hair back purple.

            “I feel so bad for her,” Bulma began as she and Vegeta sat quietly in the car and waited for Macey to come back out.  “I know she’s going through a -,”

            “Just stop,” Vegeta quietly ordered Bulma as he looked out of the passenger side window.

“Huh?”  Bulma replied in confusion.  “What are you talk -,”

“Stop assuming that you know what she’s going through,” Vegeta said quietly with traces of hurt and anger in his voice.  “You have no idea what she’s going through or how she’s feeling right now.”

“Oh, and I assume you do?”  She countered him with an offended tone.

“Yes,” he said as he looked at her with anger in his eyes.  “And she’s not your daughter,” he continued as he began opening the door, “she’s mine.”

            It’s Thursday, Macey thought as she sat down on the floor, surrounded by all of her shattered things.  I have psychology on Thursdays which means that I’ll see Kaiser today.  At the thought of her day at the one place that she could escape to, tears began to fill her eyes once more as she grabbed one of her destroyed childhood knickknacks – a small, green stuffed dog that had previously been missing one of the eyes, but was now ripped open almost completely like Nemei had torn it open and pulled the stuffing out when she was looking for her arm guards.

            “Hey,” Vegeta said as he stood in the doorway and looked at his clearly depressed daughter, “you’re going to be late if you don’t hurry it up, and I have things to do, so let’s get a move on.”

“Coming,” she said quietly as she set the stuffed animal back down on the floor with care and began to stand up.

“Wow,” Vegeta said as he looked at the destroyed hideout.  “What was she looking for?”

“The stupid sword,” Macey answered quietly as she walked towards the door.  Once by the front door, she opened up her black messenger bag, pulled out a single kunai, and hid it down in her left boot.  “Come on, let’s go,” she said as she pushed her way passed her father and headed towards the car.

“I won’t be going with you,” Vegeta said as she walked past him, “I have things to do,” he told her as he took to the sky and bolted off.

Right, she thought as she got to the car and jumped in the front passenger seat. 

            “Ready?”  Bulma asked once the teenager got in and closed the door.

“As I’ll ever be,” she said emotionlessly as she stared out the window.

“Here,” Bulma said kindly as she reached into her purse, pulled out a few things of makeup, and tried to hand them over to her step-daughter.

“What’s that?”  Macey asked, sounding uninterested as she looked at the makeup in Bulma’s hand.

“It’s makeup,” Bulma said with a smile.  “Makeup always makes me feel better.”

Macey scoffed.  “Yeah, well, I’m not you,” she said as she turned her attention back out the window.

“I just thought it might help cover up that scar,” Bulma began to explain.  “I can tell that you aren’t in the mood to explain it to anyone, so I just thought that you might want to cover it up.”

“You’re right,” Macey said as she shot a cold glare at her step-mother, “I’m not in the mood, but even if I were as pale as you, I wouldn’t know how to use it.”

“Well then,” Bulma said in a cheerful tone as she began to back out of the hideout area, “I guess I’ll just be checking you in late to school,” she happily smiled.

Father, Macey thought as she looked at the annoyingly happy woman, please come back.

 

…

 

            My daughter, Vegeta thought in anger as he began his daily training in his gravity room, no, daughters, he reminded himself.  Someone is hurting them, and when I find out who it is – they’ll beg for the sweet release of death as I tear them apart limb from limb, he thought as he deflected one of the blasts from one of his robots.  Forced to be an assassin at four years old, he said to himself in disgust.  Forced to fight or kill each other over a contract at eight years old, forced to carry out contracts or face execution – sounds quite familiar, he told himself as he smashed three of the robots.  Maybe Bulma was right – boys are a lot different than girls.  Mine and Kakarot’s sons have been fighting in battles since they were seven, and Gohan saved the Earth when he was only twelve; however, when I think about Macey or Nemei being in a situation like that, especially with Nemei being tortured like she was and Macey being as depressed as she is now, something inside me boils.  They’re fifteen-years-old, he stressed to himself.  Fifteen-years-old and Macey has already killed countless people, fought alone in an ambush, was almost murdered by her sister, and had her whole life torn apart.  And Nemei, he continued as he kept fighting against the robots firing at him.  Nemei has suffered so much to the point that she has to wear a muzzle to keep her from biting herself and white scrubs so they can see when and where she’s bleeding if she hurts herself again.  Fifteen-years-old and they’ve been through more than I did at that age – at least I enjoyed what I was doing.  Just wait until I get my hands on the one causing all this.  As his anger boiled, he transformed into his Super Saiyan Two form and successfully blew up all the robots that had been firing at him, destroyed the engine, and caused some damage to the room itself.  Great, he thought as he landed back down on the floor of his now useless gravity room.

            Across town, within a few miles of Orange Star High School, Bulma had dragged Macey into a makeup store, and as Macey stood by looking bored and annoyed, Bulma tried to find the perfect makeup to match Macey’s skin tone.

            “Can we just go?”  Macey finally said, sounding annoyed as Bulma put yet another sample of makeup on her face to see if it would match.  While Macey stood in the middle of the store next to her step-mother with her face covered in different shades of makeup, she began wishing that her father had taken her with him.  Now I see why my dad left, she thought as Bulma went to put another shade on her.

            “Aha!”  Bulma excitedly exclaimed as she found the right brand and tone to match Macey’s skin.  “Found it!”

“Great, now can we go?”  Macey impatiently said as she crossed her arms and watched Bulma pick out several other makeup items from the same brand and tone. 

“Not just yet,” Bulma began as she looked through all the different foundations, eye liners, eye shadows, blushes, and lipsticks.  “They have this new liquid foundation that I’ve…”

While Bulma’s rambling went on, Macey rolled her eyes, and while Bulma’s back was to her, Macey quickly and quietly made her way out of the store and back to the car.

This can’t be how Earthling women act, Macey thought as she sat in the passenger seat with her arms crossed while she looked at Bulma who seemed to be oblivious to the fact that Macey had left because she kept rambling on to herself.  After sitting in the car for five minutes or so, Macey looked at the time on her phone and realized that she had four minutes to get to school.  Seven fifty-six, she thought as she shook her head and saw Bulma finally come out of the store.

            “Hey,” Bulma said as she opened the driver’s side door and got in the car, “I didn’t see you leave,” she chuckled.  “I was sitting there talking to myself for what seemed like forever.”

            “Yeah, can you just hurry up?”  Macey asked with hostility.  If I didn’t need her to show me how to use this stuff, then I would have just snagged one and left.

Bulma chuckled.  “I don’t know why I’m surprised,” she said as she began to open up the liquid foundation.  “After all, you are Vegeta’s daughter.”

“Hm,” Macey replied as she closed her eyes and let Bulma put the liquid makeup all over her face.  She is my father’s wife after all, she thought as her face began to feel weird.  Maybe I should be nicer to her even though she can be annoying.  “This stuff stinks,” Macey said quietly as Bulma finished putting the liquid foundation on her step-daughter’s face.

“Really?”  Bulma chuckled.  “You can smell it?”

“You can’t?”  Macey replied with skepticism as she opened her eyes and looked at Bulma who was taking the powder foundation out.

“No,” Bulma denied, “I didn’t think that makeup had a smell.”

 

**Assassin Fact #3.)** Assassins’ senses such as hearing, smelling, seeing, feeling, and tasting can be up to 10 times more sensitive than human senses.  The older and more advanced an Assassin is, the more sensitive they become.

           

 

“You probably can’t smell it because Assassins have more sensitive senses,” Macey plainly explained.

            “You’re probably right,” Bulma chuckled as she finished up brushing the powder foundation on Macey’s face.  “It wouldn’t be the first time I met someone with strange abilities.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Macey said quietly as she pulled down the visor and looked at her face in the mirror.  “Wow,” she said in disbelief, “it’s actually gone.”

“Well, covered up,” Bulma kindly corrected her.  “You’ll be able to see it again once you take a shower and the makeup comes off.”

“Right,” Macey said replied as she folded the visor back up and looked at her step-mother.  “Thank you,” she said quietly and honestly.

“Macey,” Bulma quickly said as Macey went to pull the seat belt around to buckle herself in.  “I know that you’re going through a lot right now, and your mind is probably going a million miles an hour, so if you ever need someone to talk -,” she began once she got her step-daughter’s attention.

“Can we just go?”  Macey quietly snapped, cutting Bulma off as she looked out the passenger window.  Without saying a word, Bulma’s eyes quickly dropped, and she began to drive them back onto the main road towards the high school.  Once the silent three-minute drive was over, and the two of them made their way into the parking lot, Macey was officially late by ten minutes, so she knew that Bulma would have to go in with her and check her in.  Lovely, Macey thought as she got out of the car and headed into the building empty handed due to her books being torn apart by her sister.  Once she made her way into the lobby she stood in the center with her arms crossed as she waited for Bulma to come in and check her in, and once Bulma entered the main lobby, she turned left and headed for the front desk.

            “I need to check in Macey Evans,” Bulma said to the clerk at the desk.  Once she finished checking her in, she walked over to Macey and handed her the late pass so that she could get into her class.  “Here you go,” she said as Macey took the pass from her.  “I’ll be here at three twenty-five to get you.”

            “Right,” Macey replied coldly as she turned and made her way to her science class – or more specifically – Anatomy.  Butterflies, she thought as she held her stomach and slowly walked down the hallway.  Haven’t had these in a while.  She got to the door of her class room, and after opening it and thoroughly interrupting the teacher, she attracted the attention from all of the students and the teacher.  Lovely, she thought as she felt all of the eyes looking at her.  Without saying a word, she walked in, handed the teacher the late pass, and made her way to an empty seat in the back right corner.  After situating herself in the seat, she laid her head on the desk and used her right arm as a pillow.

            “Hey,” a familiar voice whispered as he leaned over to her.

            Dammit, she thought as she realized who it was.  “What do you want?”  She asked in her usual bored tone as she sat up, crossed her arms, and leaned back in her chair.

“I just thought I would offer you an extra notebook and a pencil,” Gohan said happily as he held out the spare materials to her.  When Macey looked over to her right to see the kind look on the half-breed Saiyan’s face, she again found herself shocked at his kindness. 

“Thanks,” she replied quietly as she took the notebook and pencil from him and opened it up to the first page.

“You shouldn’t feel so down,” Gohan cheerfully yet quietly began.  “You made a mistake, but now you have your second chance, and even though others might judge you for it, just know that I never will.”

The arrest, Macey quickly remembered.  I had nearly forgotten about it.  I guess they all think I’m upset about it.  You know, sometimes I wish Gohan didn’t have a girlfriend. “Thank you,” she quietly answered as she shot Gohan a quick smile.  Once anatomy class was over, Gohan and Macey walked out together, and Gohan found himself in shock at how much Macey knew about the body. 

            “Wow,” he said with a chuckle, “I didn’t think you knew the scientific names for all those parts of the body.”

            “You could call it a gift,” she replied with a small chuckle.  “Well,” she said as they got down the hallway and to the stairs, “I’m going to go up to the library and study for a little bit.  I’ll see you in P.E.”

“Alright, cool,” Gohan happily replied, “I’ll see you then.”

 

**C.I.A. Guideline #1.)** Dea Tacita/Macey Evans/Macey Briefs will finish out the current school year, but at the start of the next school year, she will be reverted back to freshman classes, and she must complete freshman, sophomore, junior years as well as senior year again.

 

            Cool, Macey thought as she entered the library and saw that there was no one in it.  With the borrowed notebook and pencil in hand, she made her way to the back of the room, sat in the chair at the table furthest from the door, leaned against the wall in the corner by the window, and began to open her notebook and look over and rewrite her scribbled down notes.

            “There you are,” a familiar man’s voice said as he stood in front of Macey while she was looking down at her notes.

            “What do you want, Kaiser?”  She asked in her usual tone as she used all of her strength to keep from attacking him and blowing her cover.

“I wanted to make sure that you were alright,” he said in a concerned yet stern voice as he sat down in the chair across from his sister.

Hah, she thought as she continued to write in her notebook.  I’m fine, dear brother; however, our sister is not.  “I’m fine,” she nonchalantly replied.

“That’s good to hear,” he said, sounding relieved.  “You really gave me quite the scare.  If I hadn’t come to save you, you probably wouldn’t have made it.”

Did he just…take credit for saving me?  She thought in disbelief, and the anger in her began to reach the boiling point.  “Yeah, thank you,” she replied, but the sound of hearing herself thank him left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“If only you had done your mission, then none of that would have happened,” Kaiser tried to stress to her.

“I thought you said that you were done nagging me about it?”  She snapped as she looked up to him for the first time.

“I am,” he confirmed.  “However, I never said that I wouldn’t remind you of the consequences that might happen if you refused to do it.”

Yeah, stopped nagging and started plotting to kill me, she thought. 

“You have three contracts on you, Dea,” he said quietly as he leaned over the table to look at her in the eyes.  “One legal because of your arrest and two illegal because of your treason.  Don’t forget that.  You need to watch your back.  You have got to be more careful.”

Wow, you really are lying to me, she thought as her heart began to break while she remembered that the C.I.A. agents ensured her that there was no legal contract on her.  “I know,” she replied as she looked back down to her notes.  “Don’t worry about me – I can handle myself.”

“Well, here you go,” Kaiser said as he placed a red folder in front of her.

“What’s this?”  She quickly and quietly asked as she grabbed the folder and opened it up.  “I didn’t think the Order would give me anymore contracts because I have execution orders on me.”

“That’s true,” Kaiser confirmed, “but this one is personal to you, so I fought over it so that I could give it to you.  There’s no rule against giving illegal contracts away,” he said with a nonchalant shrug and smile which made Macey sick to her stomach.  As Macey looked at the contract, she instantly had the urge to break the window that was to her right and assassinate Kaiser with a piece of the broken glass.  Inside the folder looking back at her was the person that she shared fifty percent of the same DNA as – her twin sister.  “Her name’s Nemei Morrigan, and she’s wanted for treason,” Kaiser began.  “We have reason to believe that she’s the one who almost killed you, but since then, she hasn’t been seen, so the Order has charged her with treason.  I know how you are when it comes to contracts, so I figured that because she attacked you, you’d want to avenge yourself.”  When Macey began to read the contract, she noticed that it was signed as “Anonymous”, and the handwriting was not that of Kaiser’s. 

This son of a bitch, Macey thought as she looked at the picture of her twin sister looking back at her.  Going as far as getting someone to write it for him.  It’s like he’s trying to kill us both.  As bad as I want to just kill him now, I can’t.  I have to figure out what his game is. 

“You’re right,” Macey nodded as she closed the folder and slid it down in her boot – behind her right calf.  “She almost killed me, and had it not been for you, she would have succeeded.  Consider it done,” Macey agreed.  I feel like I’m going to puke, she thought as she heard herself agree to what Kaiser had assigned her to do.  How sick can you be? Can I PLEASE just have a normal life?  Just for once?

“You have a week to complete it,” Kaiser said before getting up out of his chair and walking towards the hallway to head to the teachers’ lounge.

I’d better start keeping track of everything I learn from Kaiser.

            Macey opened up to a random page in the notebook and began a bullet point list, and on her first bullet point, she wrote:

  * Date: Thursday, November 19th \- Kaiser came up to me in the library and told me that he saved me from my ambush when it was in fact Goku.  He handed me a red folder that had a contract to assassinate Nemei and hid the fact that she was my twin.



What I learned: Kaiser is a sick, manipulative, lying asshole who only cares about himself and wants me to believe that he’s righteous.

What I already knew: Nemei is my twin sister, and Goku saved me from my ambush.

 

            There, she thought as she turned the pages back to the area where her notes were scribbled down. 

            “Hey, hey, hey!”  A student walking towards Macey said as he looked excited.  The guy that was walking towards her hand long blond hair and wore jock type clothes.

            Sharpner, she thought as he pulled out the chair that Kaiser had been sitting in, turned it around, and sat in it backwards.  “Hey,” she said with a fake smile, “what’s up?”

“Ah, not much,” he said in his jock tone.  “So, listen.  I’m having a party at my place this Friday night, and when I invited Gohan and Videl, Gohan insisted that I invite you because you seemed like you were still upset about that arrest and could use a little fun time.  So what do ya say?”

“What kind of party?”  Macey asked with her eyebrow raised.  I’ve never been to a party before besides Pax’s birthday parties when we were growing up.

“A party-party,” he explained.  “My parents are going to be out of town, so I have the whole place to myself.  Pretty much the whole senior class is gonna be there.”

“What’s the address?”  Macey asked.  “I may come by for a bit if I’m not too busy.”  Sharpner took the pencil that she had been holding in her hand and wrote down the address to his house.  That’s not too far from Capsule Corp, she thought as she looked at the address – 4718902 Boulder Street.

“Hope to see you there,” Sharpner said as he handed her the pencil back, got up from the chair, and walked out of the library.

Hm, Macey began to think as she looked at the address.  A night surrounded by people other than my father, Bulma, or Kaiser could be relaxing – might be just what I need to get my mind off of everything.  For the remainder for her study hall period, she focused on rewriting her notes – sometimes more than once, and ten minutes before the bell rang for her to switch to her next class, Macey headed towards the girls’ locker room to change before everyone else got there, and on the way, she came across one of the people who dislike her the most – Videl.

            “So, where are you going?”  Videl asked with a disgusted tone as she and Macey began walking the same way.

            “You know where I’m going, Videl,” she uninterestingly replied, “We have the same class.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” Videl remembered, “but don’t expect to be on my team.  Gohan’s always on my team, and I won’t allow the two of you to be anywhere near each other if I can help it.”

Is she serious right now?  Macey asked herself in disbelief.  I’ve already broken her wrist once, what more do I have to do to get my point across?  “Do you want to fight?”  Macey irritably asked as she reached and grabbed Videl’s left shoulder with her right hand to turn her around to face her.  “Because that’s what you’re doing – you’re asking me for a fight, and trust me, I have no problem fighting.”  As the two stared at each other, Videl couldn’t believe what she had heard come out of the new girl’s mouth. 

“I know you have your sights on Gohan,” Videl angrily replied, but then, no sooner than she got the words out of her mouth, she found herself slammed and pinned against one of the lockers and being held by the neck by Macey’s left hand.

“This is the last time I’m going to warn you,” Macey began to threaten as she started choking Videl.  “Stop coming at me with your worthless threats and attempts of intimidation.  I’ll say this once more,” she began as she put her face in Videl’s, “I do not – I repeat, do not want your stupid boyfriend.  I have much bigger things to worry about,” she told Videl as she let go of her neck and let her drop to the floor, walked away, and made her way to the locker room.

Later on that day, as Macey slowly made her way to her last class of the day, her heart began racing, and her blood began to boil as she thought about how she was going to have to look at her older brother for the next hour.  In response to the attack earlier, Videl kept her mouth shut when she saw Macey sitting in the same seat as she sat in on Tuesday – the very front seat of the row closest to the wall and furthest from the door.  A few minutes after the bell rang for class to start Kaiser, still undercover as Mr. Keeda, walked into the room, and of course, all the girls gazed at him with lustful eyes, and of course, Macey looked at him with hate in her eyes.  As she pushed her way through class and listened to his lecture on the differences in older siblings and younger siblings, Macey couldn’t help but want to get out of there as fast as she could.

No, she thought to herself as she stared down at her desk.  If I get up and bolt out of here, it’ll draw attention, and he’ll know I’m up to something.  I have to push through this.  I have to pretend that I still don’t know anything.

            “In conclusion,” Kaiser began as he started to end class, “what we went over today, and the evidence we looked at, all showed how older siblings are generally more determined and more independent.”

What a load of crap, Macey thought as she watched her older brother.

“Now, don’t forget,” he continued, “your group assignments on observation and interpretation are due next Tuesday, so make sure you get those done this weekend.  If there are no questions, then everyone is free to go.”  Immediately and eager to get home, the whole class got up at once and bolted for the door, and as Macey walked by her brother who was sitting down behind his desk, she wanted nothing more than to just walk out of the room and go home.  “See you Tuesday, Dea,” he said quietly as he looked down at a stack of papers and began writing on them.

“Yeah,” she quietly replied as she continued to push through everyone.  Avoiding eye contact and conversation with everyone she passed, she quickly made her way down the stairs and to the outside of the building.  Guess she’s not here yet, she thought as she looked out into the parking lot and didn’t see Bulma’s car.  Oh well, guess I’ll walk.

            “Macey,” a man’s voice came from her left.  When Macey looked over to see who it was, she was secretly happy that it was her father standing there – leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed.

            “Hey,” she said as she walked up to him, “what’re you doing here?”

“Come on, let’s go,” he said as he grabbed her notebook and motioned for her to get on his back.

            “No,” she said as she refused Vegeta’s order.

“What?”  Vegeta said in shock as he turned around to face her.  “Why not?”

“I’d much rather race,” she said with a smirk.

“I didn’t think you could fly,” he replied as he crossed his arms and tilted his head.

“I can’t,” Macey said, “but I can glide and leap long distances.”

Vegeta chuckled.  “You’ll never be able to beat me by gliding.  Besides, wouldn’t it make people wonder about you if they saw you leaping through the air like a deer?  So stop your arguing and come on,” he ordered her again.

“And wouldn’t it seem strange to see me on your back and you flying through the air?”  She asked, sounding offended at what her father just said about her preferred method of transportation.

“No,” Vegeta bluntly.  “They’re used to seeing people fly through the city.”  Finally, after much back and forth, Macey finally and reluctantly got on Vegeta’s back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Hurry up,” she said as she got secured on his back, “this is embarrassing.”

“As you wish,” Vegeta said quietly with a smirk.  Granting his daughter’s wish, he took off as fast as he could into the sky and headed towards the direction of her warehouse.  As Macey struggled to stay on her speeding father’s back, she hoped that the flight from hell would end soon, and luckily for her, it did.  Within a minute of taking off, Vegeta landed in front of her warehouse just as she was about to lose her grip.

            “Are you trying to kill me?!”  She yelled as she got down off of his back.  “What the hell was that about?!”

            “Come on,” Vegeta said as he began walking towards the door of her hideout – causing Macey to grunt in aggravation.  Once he got to the warehouse door, he opened it up to reveal the mess that had been made by Nemei.

“What are we doing here?”  Macey asked with an annoyed tone as she walked up next to her father and looked at her destroyed warehouse.

“It’s a mess,” Vegeta said as he pointed out the obvious.

Macey rolled her eyes.  “Really?  I couldn’t tell,” she said sarcastically.

“And we’re going to clean it up,” Vegeta told her as he began making his way into the torn apart warehouse – making sure not to step on anything that could be of value.

“Hmph,” Macey scoffed as she followed behind him, “you must really be bored.”

“I broke my gravity room,” he said quietly and under his breath – not thinking that Macey would be able to hear it, but her Assassin senses prevailed.

“Right,” she chuckled.  “Whatever that is.”  Once the two stood at the opening of the warehouse, Vegeta went to take a capsule out of his vest, but Macey instantly stopped him and told him to hang on for a second.  She used her innate Assassin ability and used her Transparency to walk around the entire structure to make sure that Kaiser nor any other assassin was lying in wait.  “Okay,” she said as she undid her Transparency and walked back towards her father so that she could lock the door behind the two of them.  Without saying a word, Vegeta pulled the Capsule out of his vest, and once it opened in the middle of the room, a container filled with cleaning supplies such as trash bags, rags, and disinfectants presented itself.  “Why’re you doing this?”  Macey asked as she watched her father grab a trash bag from the container.

“Because,” he replied as he started to grab obvious trash and put it in the bag, “this place might come in handy one day. Now, stop stalling and get to work.”

 

…

 

 

            Back at Orange Star High School, while Vegeta and Macey were busy cleaning up the hideout, something was unfolding behind the locked door of the fourth floor teachers’ lounge. 

            “There,” Kaiser said as he huffed and tried to catch his breath as he began buckling his belt back.  Laying across from him on the table, completely nude, was a woman who had been acting as a spy for the older assassin.  She was gorgeous, young, and had long medium brown hair and medium brown eyes.  Her skin was pale and flawless, and it was easy to tell that she was completely head over heels for the assassin, and as everyone knows, information comes at a cost, so in order to satisfy her needs, and admittedly his own, he paid for information with sex. “So now, tell me what you’ve found out,” Kaiser commanded.

“Well,” she began as she started to sit back up and look at Kaiser who was leaning against the back of the couch across from the table with his arms crossed.  “I’ve learned by listening to the students that she’s still upset about her arrest the other day, and it’s been affecting her.”

“I’m sure it has,” Kaiser nodded as he looked at the gorgeous nude woman in front of him start to get dressed.  “Tell me, have you seen her try anything with Son Gohan?”

“No,” the woman shook her head, “she spoke to him today in just about every one of her classes, but other than that – that’s about it.”

Hm, Kaiser thought as he watched her finish getting dressed.  It seems she really is serious about not assassinating them.

“Did she talk about anything else?”  Kaiser ordered her to tell him.

“Not that I’m aware of,” she shrugged.

“Well,” Kaiser said as the woman began walking towards the door to leave, but was cut off and pushed against the wall by the undercover assassin, “just remember.  If you want any more of this, then you need to give me all the information that you possibly can.”  The previously nude woman felt her breath be taken completely away as Kaiser held his face mere inches away from hers. 

“Right,” she said as she gasped for air.  Kaiser moved away from her and sat down on the table that she had been laying on moments prior as she walked out of the lounge.

I have to make sure to keep her in the dark, Kaiser thought as he looked at the door that the gorgeous woman had just walked out of.  But so far, it doesn’t seem like Dea knows anything.  That’s good.

 

…

 

            Three hours later, as Macey and Vegeta were still cleaning the warehouse, they ended up producing more trash than was originally there when they decided to order takeout.  Now, there were pizza boxes all over the floor, and when Vegeta went to pick one up to put it in the trash bag, he revealed the stuffed, green dog that had been torn apart when Nemei rummaged through the warehouse.

            “No, wait!”  Macey yelled as she saw the little green dog almost be thrown away.  She bolted from the kitchen faster than Vegeta had ever seen her move and pulled the toy out of his hand. “You can’t throw this away,” she said quietly as she got the dog in her hands and held it close.

            Vegeta looked at his daughter in confusion.  “It’s just a torn up toy,” he told her.  “What use is it?”

“He means a lot to me, okay?”  Macey replied as she looked at the green dog and gave a small smile.  “Just leave him alone.”

“Whatever you say,” Vegeta said as he rolled his eyes.  He found himself unable to figure out why is daughter would want to keep such a torn up stuffed animal, and for the remainder of the time that they were there, she made sure to keep it close to her.

“Hey,” Macey said after about ten minutes of silent cleaning and throwing trash bags out into the dumpster behind her warehouse, “can I ask you something?”  She said as she looked towards her father who was sitting on the broken futon as she sat on the floor in the middle of the large room.

“If you want to,” he replied as he kept his attention on putting the trash in the bags.  “Not sure I’ll have an answer for you.”

“Can we go see Nemei on Saturday afternoon?”  Macey asked quietly and hesitantly as she picked at the torn up stuffed animal.

“What for?”  Vegeta asked with curiosity as he watched Macey get up from the floor, pull out a red folder from her right boot, and walk over to the couch.

“Kaiser gave me this earlier,” she said quietly as she sat down on Vegeta’s left and handed him the folder.

“From what you told me earlier, this looks like an illegal contract,” Vegeta deduced as he looked at the red folder in his hands.

“That’s because it is,” Macey confirmed.  “It was ordered by someone besides a C.I.A. agent.”  Overcome with curiosity, Vegeta opened up the folder and saw the image of his eldest daughter staring back at him with a $40,000 reward listed.

“He ordered a hit on Nemei?”  Vegeta asked in confusion and disbelief.

“I’m not sure,” Macey replied quietly.  “It’s signed as “Anonymous”, and that handwriting isn’t his.  He gave it to me when I was in the library and told me that he fought for it so that he could give it to me because I’m listed as a “Rogue Assassin” and can’t receive any more contracts.  He also said that she was the assassin who attacked me in the park and that I might want to avenge myself,” she informed him.  “But what’re the odds?”  She continued.  “What’re the odds that Nemei attacked me in the park, was beaten brutally, went “Rogue” – according to Kaiser, and now I’m handed a contract to assassinate her?”

“He’s trying to pit you against each other,” Vegeta scoffed as he closed the folder and threw it in the trash bag.

“Maybe,” she said quietly.  “What if there are actually two people at play?”

 “Seriously, Mace?”  Vegeta began to scold his daughter.  “What the hell are the odds that you’re handed a contract to kill Nemei merely days after she tried to kill you but failed?  How can you suspect that there are two people at play?  He’s clearly trying to get you two to kill each other.”

“Kaiser and I were around each other all day, every day when we were growing up, and I know for a fact that the handwriting on that contract is not his.  I’ve seen how he writes with his left hand and his right hand, and it looks nothing like that.”  Anonymous, Macey thought as she swirled her thoughts around in her head.  Anonymous...why does that sound familiar?  “Oh my God,” she finally said in realization. 

“What is it?” Vegeta asked curiously as he saw his daughter come across her realization.

 “It didn’t click at first when he first gave it to me because I was trying to focus on other things, but when I first arrived on Earth, I was given a legal mission – one ordered by a C.I.A. agent – from Kaiser that he said Queen Enyo gave him to give me.  Since it was technically a training mission, he tagged along with me.  The contract was signed by “Anonymous”, and it was signed off by Queen Enyo since she has to sign off on legal contracts.  Also, I would have noticed if it was Kaiser’s handwriting.  Now, I’m handed another contract by Kaiser – an illegal contract – that also has “Anonymous” listed as the signature; however, it’s not signed off by Queen Enyo because she doesn’t sign off on illegal contracts, and I know for a fact that it’s not his handwriting either.  What are the odds that both contracts that were given to me by Kaiser just so happen to be anonymous, both contracts were personally given to me by Kaiser, and who’s to say that they aren’t both written by the same person?”

 “Mace, you’re grasping at straws here,” Vegeta tried to warn his daughter before being cut off by her.

“I’m willing to bet that the handwriting on the first anonymous contract and this one is exactly the same,” Macey insisted, cutting her father off.

“Macey!”  Vegeta yelled as he became officially fed up with his daughter.  “Why are you still trying to give him the benefit of the doubt?!  Can you really not admit that that’s your brother’s handwriting?!  He ordered the contract!”  He yelled as he grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her to look at him.

Unintimidated, Macey glared her father in his eyes.  “That is not Kaiser’s handwriting.  It’s signed “Anonymous” just like the previous one, and I was handed both of them by Kaiser.  I’m not saying he’s innocent, but he might be having someone write them for him because he knows that I’d recognize his handwriting.  I need to figure out who Anonymous is.  I’m a vigilante – I make people pay for causing pain to others, and I’m not about to make one person pay for the crimes of two.  They’ll both pay.”

Vegeta let go of her shoulders and shook his head in disbelief.  “So, what does seeing Nemei have to do with anything?”  He asked, trying to get her to move on from her absurd idea.

“I want to see if she’s the one that could be writing them for him,” Macey explained.  “If he’s manipulating her like we believe she is, then we’ll figure out who the second person is.”

“You think that he would make her write out her own execution contract?”  Vegeta questioned.

“I’m not sure,” Macey admitted, “but if she is the one who wrote them for him, then maybe she’ll be able to tell me why she wrote the first one.”

“How would she have even been able to write the first one?”  Vegeta curiously asked.  “If the first one was a legal contract, then it was ordered by a C.I.A. agent, right?  She’s not a C.I.A. agent.”

“But they aren’t that hard to fake if you know what you’re doing,” Macey told him.  “Pax’s forged legal contract on me would have worked perfectly if she hadn’t used the wrong color ink or messed up on Queen Enyo’s signature, so the first one could very well have been forged.”

“But what would be the purpose of that?”  Vegeta asked his daughter who was clearly becoming more and more hurt by the thought of her brother betraying her.  “Why would he feel the need to give you a forged legal contract?”

“He went with me,” she whispered.  “He wanted to see how I fight,” she realized as her eyes met with her father’s.  For the first time, I’m absolutely terrified of my brother, she thought as she lowered her gaze back down to the floor.  I thought I was steps ahead of him, but he’s been ahead of me since the beginning.  There’s no telling what else he could be doing. 

            “I’ll go along with this crazy idea of yours,” Vegeta finally agreed, “but once you find out that I’m right, I’ll be taking the reins from you.”

            “Right,” she said quietly as she bent down and picked up her torn up stuffed dog.  “Let’s get out of here.”  I can’t be in here right now – being around all my assassin gear makes me feel like, well, an assassin, and with all the corruption going on – I’m not sure I want to be one right now.


	13. Chapter 13 - It Was an Accident

**“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say 'My tooth is aching' than to say 'My heart is broken'.” – C.S. Lewis**

 

            Dressed in one of Bulma’s casual yet elegant outfits, Macey walked down the stairs and into the Capsule Corp living room where her little brother was doing his homework as Bulma helped him.

            “Woah,” Bulma said as she looked at the teenage assassin, “you look amazing,” she said with a smile and a little bit of shock.  “I never thought I see you like that,” she chuckled.  Macey was wearing clothes that no one ever thought they would see her in.  Her makeup was done almost perfectly after Bulma showed her how to do it – even covering up the scar on her face and stomach perfectly, her hair was down and styled as it remained in its purple color, the top she had picked out was a teal, half-bodied, long-sleeved, scoop necked shirt that rested on her shoulders.  She picked out a matching, all teal mini-skirt with ruffles and matched it with a pair of tan wedges and a tan handbag.

            “Where exactly do you think you’re going?”  Vegeta demanded to know as he came out of his gravity room and into the living room on his way to the kitchen to get something to eat.

“I was invited to a party tonight by some people at school, so I’m going to it,” she told him.

“Not like that you aren’t,” he ordered as he looked at her outfit.

“Seriously?”  She scoffed.  “What’s wrong with it?”

“I can see your stomach, and your ass is about to hang out!”  He told her sternly.  “What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong with it?’.”

“I took them from your wife’s closet,” she scoffed.  “Besides, you told me yourself that you didn’t care what I did, so I’m going, and I’m wearing this outfit.”

“Fine,” Vegeta said as he realized that there was no use in arguing with her.  “At least take one of those jackets,” he told her as she got by the door and next to the coatrack. 

“Fine,” she sighed as she grabbed one of the jackets – a gray one that happened to be her father’s.

Bulma looked at Vegeta who was clearly aggravated by his daughter’s stubbornness and chuckled.  “You really can’t out-argue a fifteen-year-old?”  She joked.  “Wow.  I guess the Prince of all Saiyans’ one weakness is his teenage daughter!”

“Shut up,” Vegeta replied quietly and under his breath as his face turned red.  Outside, the cold winter air hit Macey like a freight train and caused her to walk as fast as she could to the car that was waiting for her outside.

            “There she is!”  Sharpner happily yelled out of the driver’s side window as Macey came out of the Capsule Corp house.  “What’s up?”  He asked as she got in his passenger seat.

            “Hey there,” she said with a smile as she got in and buckled her seatbelt.  “Thanks for coming to get me,” she said with a nervous chuckle.  “It’s just been so cold out, and I didn’t want to freeze on my walk over there.”

“Nah, it’s alright,” he replied as he put his car into drive.  “I wouldn’t want a gorgeous girl like yourself to freeze just to come to a party,” he laughed with a flirtatious tone.

This is what I need, Macey thought as she looked out the passenger side window and looked at the bright lights of the city.  Just one night of being a normal teenager, but somehow, I feel like it won’t be that simple.  After all, how many teenagers carry a kunai knife with them to a party?  She asked herself as she remembered the kunai that she stuffed into her handbag. 

“So, how many parties have you been to?” He asked her.

“Honestly?”  She chuckled.  “None.”

“Seriously?!”  He said as he looked over at her with disbelief.  “Wow.  I don’t even remember my first party,” he laughed.  “Well, I’m glad that your very first high school party is going to be at my place.  I’ll introduce you to some of my friends and if you want to play party games, we have beer pong, body shot contests, drunk pin the tail on the donkey, and drunk Marco Polo in the pool.”

Bulma told me about all this, Macey reminded herself.  I’ve never even tasted alcohol.  Should I even try it?  She asked herself.  Whatever, one night won’t kill me.  I’m here to have fun, not worry about the stupid assassins.

 “And here we are,” Sharpner excitedly said as he pulled up into his driveway.  As they drove up, Macey saw the abundance of cars that lined the streets and the driveway and was amazed at just how big the gathering was. 

“Wow,” she said in awe.  “There are a lot of people here,” she chuckled as she opened the door to get out.  As she opened the door, she remembered the jacket that she was wearing, and because she didn’t like how it went with what she was wearing, she took it off and threw it in Sharpner’s backseat.  “You’re gonna be able to take me home, right?”  She asked before she shut the door.

“Of course!”  He replied.  “You said by midnight right?”

“Yes,” she confirmed as they began walking up to the house.  “Otherwise, my father will lose his mind.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, are they your real parents, or are you just in their custody?”  Sharpner hesitantly asked.  “I know it sounds like I’m trying to get all up in your business, but I just heard that they bailed you out of jail.”

“I’m just in their custody,” she casually replied.  As the two of them got closer to the house, Macey could hear the loud, muffled, music playing and the laughs and chatter of everyone inside, and then, when Sharpner opened the door, the muffled noise went away and the music and voices could be heard clearly.

            “Hey there, Sharpner!”  A clearly drunk girl said cheerfully as Macey and Sharpner entered the house.  “And hey there…girl!”  She said towards Macey as she tried to keep her balance by clinging onto Sharpner and figure out who the girl with the purple hair was.

            “Her name’s Macey!”  Sharpner replied, having to yell over the loud music.  “Macey, this is Sofai,” he introduced the drunk girl to Macey.

“Uh, hey there,” Macey said awkwardly.  “It’s only eight o’clock and people are already drunk?”  She whispered as she leaned over to Sharpner.

“Yeah,” he chuckled as Sofai made her way back to the large crowd.  “Some people have been here since six.  Here, let me show you around,” he said as he closed the door and began to walk Macey through the large house.

            “Videl, can we please just go?”  Gohan begged his girlfriend as the two of them stood against a wall in the large kitchen.  “This is boring.”

            “Just mingle, Gohan!”  Videl said happily as she drank a soda.  She and Gohan were some of the few people there that weren’t interested in drinking the alcoholic beverages, so they opted for other drinks such as water, juice, and soda.  “Come on, it’s fun!”  She said excitedly as she tried to get her clearly bored boyfriend to move, but all of her efforts were to no avail.  “Fine,” she sighed as she sat her soda can on the counter, “let’s go.”

            “And this is the kitchen,” Sharpner said as he led Macey into the kitchen, but was seemingly unaware of Gohan and Videl.

“On second thought,” Videl said in a thoughtful tone.  “We’re staying, Gohan.”

“Videl, please don’t tell me you’re going to start something with her,” Gohan pleaded.

“Don’t worry, I’m only observing and interpreting,” she said with a wink.

“And here’s the drink room,” Sharpner said as he led her to the last main room of the house.  Usually, it was used as an outdoor patio, but tonight, it was where all the drinks were held.  “Here,” he said as he tossed her a beer bottle.

“Uh,” she said as she stared at the cold alcoholic beverage in her hand, “I’ve never had one of these.”

“Oh, well, if you don’t want to drink, there’s always soda, water, and juice inside,” Sharpner informed her.  “A lot of people here actually don’t drink.”

“No,” she said as he popped the cap off of the bottle.  “I came here to have a good time, and I’m not leaving until I do.”

“Cheers!”  Sharpner said with a smile as he raised his bottle up to Macey’s, and they both took a giant gulp. 

“Wow,” she said as she drank as much as she could without it coming back up – which honestly wasn’t much at all – and shook her head, “that’s strong.”

“Well, it wouldn’t do any good if it wasn’t,” Sharpner chuckled as he guzzled down the rest of his beer, and as Macey watched Sharpner do it, she decided that she was there to have a fun time, so she was going to drink all that she could before feeling sick. 

           

…

 

            Back at Capsule Corp, Bulma got Trunks situated for bed, and as she went back downstairs into the living room to make sure all the lights were out and the doors were locked, she found her husband sitting on the couch with his head tilted back and his eyes looking at the ceiling.

            “Hey,” she said quietly in the silence of the quiet house, causing Vegeta to look over to his left to see her.

            “What do you want?”  He replied with annoyance in his tone.

“It’s almost ten o’clock,” she told him, “Are you coming to bed?”

“In a bit,” he plainly replied as he tilted his head back to where it was before she walked in.  Noticing that there was something bothering him, Bulma made her way over to him.  “Hey,” she said as she walked through the quiet, dark living room and sat down next to him, “talk to me.”

“About what?”  He asked as he closed his eyes.

“Something’s bothering you,” Bulma insisted.  “I’ve known you long enough to know when something’s on your mind.”

“Nothing’s bothering me,” Vegeta countered.

“You’re worried about her,” Bulma told him, “and that’s perfectly normal; she’s a fifteen-year-old, young, beautiful girl who’s at a high school party, and I’m pretty sure even you can figure out what happens at those parties, but however crappy she feels tomorrow is the outcome of her own decision.”

“Just go away,” Vegeta said in a quiet, demanding voice so that Trunks wouldn’t wake up.

“Fine,” Bulma said, knowing that it was no use to argue with him.  “Come up whenever you’re ready, but just remember that I was once a fifteen-year-old girl, so I know what they’re like,” she told him as she got up from the couch and made her way back upstairs.

But you never had thousands of assassins after you, Vegeta thought as he got up and headed towards the kitchen.  Why do I feel so sick?  He asked himself as he put his elbows on one of the counters and put his head in his hands.  I couldn’t possibly be scared, can I?  What would I be scared of anyways?  The worse that can happen is that she’ll feel like death in the morning, but that’s her own fault.  Come on, Vegeta, snap out of it.  She can handle herself.  Ignoring the sick feeling in his gut, he opened the refrigerator, pulled out some leftovers, sat down at the table, and slowly ate them – the complete opposite of how he normally ate.

 

…

 

            “I hate her,” Macey slurred as she stood next to Sharpner in the large open living room and looked at Videl and Gohan who were standing across the room and in front of the fireplace.  “I mean…I just really…I just really don’t like her,” she scoffed as she looked at Videl in disgust.  “I mean, just who, who does she think she is?”  By the time ten-thirty came around, Macey had downed four beers, seven shots of liquor, three mixed drinks, and was working on her fifth beer.

            Sharpner laughed.  “Oh yeah?”  He asked.  “And why’s that?”

“Because,” she began as she used Sharpner to hold herself up.  “Woah,” she chuckled as she nearly fell.  “Because, I want him.”

“Who?”  Sharpner laughed.  “Gohan?”

“Yeah,” she replied in a sad tone with a hiccup, causing Sharpner to have a smirk come across his face.

“Well, what if I told you that you’d have much more fun hanging around me, and you could get your mind off of Gohan?”  Sharpner said in a drunken, flirtatious tone as he nudged Macey.

“Oh yeah?”  She replied in the same drunken, flirtatious tone.  “Then I’d say, ‘prove it’,” she chuckled as she looked up to Sharpner. 

“Well then, take my hand, and I’ll show you the time of your life,” Sharpner said as he held out his hand for Macey to grab.  Quickly, Macey finished the beer in her hand and grabbed onto Sharpner’s extended hand, and as he led her upstairs, Videl noticed the drunk pair and stealthily followed them without Gohan noticing.

Good job, Sharpner, Videl thought with a chuckle as she followed them upstairs and watched them enter one of the rooms on the right side of the hallway, and once the door was closed and the lock was turned, Videl quietly went up to the door to listen inside the room.

            Once Macey entered the room with Sharpner, she saw the giant queen sized bed off to her left, the desk and study area straight ahead, the door to the joined bathroom on the right side of the bed, the door to the closet on the left side, and on the right side of the wall was a small, brown couch facing the wall, and a large flat screen television on the wall.

            “So, what’re we doing in here?”  She asked as she looked around the room, and as she did, she began to feel dizzy.  “I think I drank too much,” she said as she leaned against the locked door and closed her eyes.

            “There’s a couch over there you can sit on, or you can sit on the bed,” Sharpner offered her as he walked over to his closet. With the bed being closer, she went over, sat on the foot of the bed, and leaned back to try to get her head to stop spinning.  “Feeling any better?”  Sharpner asked as he came back out and looked Macey who was still extremely intoxicated.

“I guess a little,” she managed to get out.  “What are we doing in here?”

“You told me to prove it, didn’t you?”  He said as he pulled Macey up by her hands and got her to stand on her feet.  “So, I’m proving it,” he said as he pulled her close to him and began kissing her.  At first, it startled her and caused her to try to get away, but then she changed her mind as she remembered that she was there to have a fun time and forget about everything else.  Slowly, Sharpner walked her backwards so that she would fall on the bed on her back, and he would be above her.

“What’re we doing?”  She chuckled as she looked up at the muscular, long blond haired guy inches away from her face.

“Have you really never done this?”  He asked in disbelief.  “I figured a gorgeous girl like yourself would have slept with someone before.”

“No,” she chuckled, “I haven’t.  I never really had the time.”

“Well, if you don’t want to, then just say the word, and we won’t,” Sharpner told her as he leaned down to kiss the left side of her neck.

“I’d be careful,” she chuckled as he kissed her neck.  “My dad might kill you if you leave marks on me,” she told him as she leaned her head up to kiss him and pull him closer to her.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?”  Sharpner asked as he pulled himself away from her lips to make sure that she knew what she was doing.  “I mean, it’s your first time.  Are you sure you wanna lose it at a party?”

“Just get down here,” Macey ordered him as she pulled him in closer to her once more.

            About hour later, at eleven-forty-five, Macey, who was still extremely intoxicated due to having three more shots after she and Sharpner left the room, was picked up by the taxi that Sharpner had called for her.

            “Sorry I couldn’t take you home,” he apologized as he handed her the jacket that she had put in his backseat.  “I just don’t feel comfortable driving.”

            “It’s fine,” she chuckled as she stumbled her way into the taxi.  “Thank you for the awesome night,” she laughed as he closed the door and leaned in the rolled down window. 

“She’s going to Capsule Corp,” Sharpner told the driver.  “And I’ll see you on Monday,” he said as he leaned in further to give Macey a kiss.  As he backed away, he tapped on the hood of the taxi, giving the signal that it was clear for the driver to back up, and right at midnight, the taxi pulled up in front of Capsule Corp and dropped the wasted teenager off.

“Oh, here you go,” Macey said as she stumbled her way to the driver’s side window and handed the driver a twenty-dollar tip. 

            “Thank you, ma’am,” the driver replied as he graciously took the large tip.  “Would you like me to help you to the door?”

“Nah, I got it,” she chuckled as she walked around the front of the cab and made her way to the door, and once she got to the automatic doors, the cab driver pulled off.

            “Well, it’s about time,” Vegeta said as Macey loudly stumbled into the large living room so that she could make it up the stairs and into her bed.  Vegeta, who was sitting on the couch in the living room still with all of the lights out, watched as his intoxicated daughter tried to get herself through the front door.

            “Vegeta!”  She yelled as she flipped the light on and ran towards Vegeta with her arms open like she was going for a hug; however, because of her incoordination as a result of the wedges and the alcohol, she tripped over her right foot, and began to plummet to the floor, but luckily, Vegeta was quick enough to catch her and hold her under her armpits.

“What on Earth is wrong with you?”  He snapped at her.

“Nothing,” she chuckled as she looked up to her father.  “Absolutely nothing.  I feel awesome!”  She slurred.

“You need to keep your voice down,” he ordered her.  “Trunks and Bulma are asleep.”

“Oops,” she said quietly.  “Sorry,” she chuckled. 

My God, she smells like alcohol and rubber, Vegeta thought as he leaned down to pick her up bridal style and carry her up to her room. 

“Oh my Gosh!”  She said excitedly as she got down and ran towards her bed and face planted on it.  “Here’s my bed!  I was worried that it might be gone when I got back!”

“What?”  Vegeta asked with confusion as he watched Macey try to get into bed.  “No, get out,” he ordered her, “you aren’t going to sleep just yet.”

“Huh?  But why not?”  She said in a letdown tone as she sat up in the bed.

“If you go to sleep as drunk as you are without drinking water, you’ll feel even worse in the morning,” he told her as he walked over to her bathroom.  He grabbed a cup from the medicine cabinet, filled it with water, and brought it back over to his daughter, and while he was trying to hand her the water, she couldn’t help but to look at him with her eyes squinted and laugh.  “What’s so funny?”  He demanded to know.

“You are,” she chuckled as she took the water from him.  “It’s so cute to see you care about me.”

“After you finish that, you need to get a shower,” he said, changing the subject.  “You smell like alcohol and rubber.”

“Yeah,” she said in a drawn-out voice, “I had a pretty fun night,” she chuckled.

“What do you…Oh my God,” he said as he realized what she was talking about, “please tell me you at least used some sort of protection.”

Macey glared at Vegeta.  “Please,” she scoffed, “I’m not that stupid,” she chuckled.  “Of course we did.”

Thank God, Vegeta thought in relief.  But still, this isn’t like her at all.  She’s too smart to get involved with the party crowd.  “How much did you drink?”  He asked her.

“Umm,” Macey began to think, “I forget.”

A look of anger and disappointment came across Vegeta’s face.  “What do you think you’re doing?”  He asked her as he knelt down next to the bed in order to make eye contact with her.  “You’re too smart and skilled to be getting involved in this.”  As she looked into her father’s eyes, she could see the disappointment and anger in them, and due to her intoxicated state, she was unable to control the tears once they filled her eyes.

“I just wanted to forget,” she said quietly as tears streamed down her face.  “The assassins, Kaiser, Pax, Nemei – everybody and everything.  I just wanted to forget.  I just wanted to feel like a normal teenager.  In my real life, I’m Dea Tacita – wanted assassin, but I never get to be Macey Evans – normal teenager.  My life is anything but normal, so doing something normal that people do at my age, seemed like fun.  I’m sorry that it’s such a crime.”

My God, Vegeta thought as he looked at his obviously upset daughter and felt his chest become heavy.  This is all really taking a toll on her – even more so than I thought.  I have to do something to get her to stop this, or else she’ll only go downhill.  Depression, alcohol, sex – never a good combination.

“I’m fifteen,” she continued in a whisper.  “I’m fifteen.  Why can’t I just be treated like a normal teenager and do normal teenage things without having to worry about being assassinated?  I highly doubt that the other people from the party are sitting in front of their parents talking about what I’m talking about.”

“How much of tonight are you going to remember?”  Vegeta asked her in a serious tone.

“Hopefully none of it,” she replied as she wiped the tears out of her eyes.

“Then never mind,” he said as he stood up and walked towards the dresser to grab some clothes that Bulma had let her borrow.  “Here,” he said as he tossed a pair of pajamas to his daughter – a baggy black t-shirt and a pair of green pajama pants.  “Get a shower and put those on,” he told her.  Without argument, Macey, who was still intoxicated, grabbed the pajamas, got up, and stumbled her way to the bathroom and nearly fell face first on the tile floor when she got there, but again, she was caught by Vegeta.  “Can you handle yourself?”  He asked, sounding annoyed.

“Yeah,” she replied.  “I don’t need your help.”  After refusing help from her father, Vegeta led her into the bathroom, shut the door behind her, and stood outside the door in case she passed out in the shower. 

There has to be something I can do to put a stop to her slippery slope before it begins, Vegeta pondered as Macey got her shower.  She wasn’t raised by a parent – she was raised by her brother, and I’m sure he was more of a friend to her than a parent.  Come on, Vegeta.  Think.

            “All done,” Macey said about ten minutes later as she tried to open the door that Vegeta was standing in front of.  Noticing that she couldn’t open it, Vegeta turned around and let her out, and as she headed for her bed, Vegeta walked behind her to make sure that she didn’t fall.

            “Where’s your bag?”  Vegeta asked as Macey situated herself into her bed.

“Over there,” she said as she pointed to the handbag that she had taken to the party.  Vegeta grabbed the bag, walked over to his daughter, placed the kunai that she had hidden in it on the nightstand, and took her phone out of it. 

“Here,” he said as he set down the kunai but kept the phone in his hand.

“And my phone?”  She said as she went to grab the phone from him, but ultimately, he moved it away too fast.

“Yeah, you’ll get this back in a week,” he said as he looked at the phone in his hand and turned it off.  “You can use it to check in with the C.I.A., but that’s it.”

“Have you lost your mind?”  She snapped at him.  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Three weeks,” he said as he upped the amount of time her phone would be gone, causing her to go quiet.  “You’re done running around as you please and wearing whatever you want, so I hope that you had a fun time tonight, because that won’t be happening again.”

“You can’t be serious,” she scoffed.  “You do realize that I’m still an assassin, right?  I could either easily find it or kill you.”

“Four weeks,” he upped it again.  “And you said you wanted to feel like a normal teenager, well, here you go.  Besides, if I don’t do something to limit the amount of freedom you have, then you’re going to end up assassinated or pregnant.  You should just know how to be responsible on your own, but clearly Kaiser didn’t raise you right, and legally, according to the C.I.A., you’re in mine and Bulma’s custody until you’re eighteen, and biologically, you’re mine, so whatever rules I place on you, you will follow from here on out.”

“Fine,” she finally and reluctantly agreed knowing that she was too intoxicated to argue or fight with him.  Besides, she thought, if I break one of the C.I.A.’s guidelines, they’ll put an execution warrant on me, and even more assassins will be after me.  Maybe it won’t be so bad.  After all, he is my father.

“Now, go to sleep,” Vegeta said in a demanding tone.  “Tomorrow, we’re going to see Nemei and then we’ll figure out if Kaiser is the one behind all this.”  Before he got to his last word, Macey was already curled up and passed out in her bed.  And hopefully being treated like a normal teenager will help put her mind to ease – at least a little bit, he hoped as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

            Six hours later, while the entire Capsule Corp house was asleep, one person was awake and ready to go. 

            Alright, Vegeta thought as he stood outside of Macey’s door, here we go. Out of nowhere, he slammed open the door which instantly woke Macey up, quickly flew over to Macey’s bed, and while she was trying to figure out what was going on through her hangover, she was met with a right kick from her father, which knocked her out of the window, off the balcony, and onto the ground. 

            “What the hell are you doing?!”  She yelled as she held her face in the palms of her hands as she sat on the ground.  “You’re going to kill me!”

“Exactly!”  Vegeta yelled back as he flew down to his daughter who was trying to get up from the ground.  “I’m an assassin, and I’m here to collect the money for your contract because that’s all your life is worth!”  He yelled as he began throwing his daughter around – admittedly only using a tad bit of his strength so that he didn’t hurt her too much, so technically, the bark was bigger than the bite.  “Come on!”  He yelled as he landed combination after combination on her.  “Fight back!” 

“I can’t!”  She yelled as she tried to block her father’s blows and move away, but he caught up to her like it was nothing.  “I’m going to puke!”  Unable to do anything, she went to her knees as she held her mouth shut and tightly closed her eyes, but she was met with a left kick to her side.  “Will you stop it?!”  She yelled, starting to get angry.  “I can’t do anything!”

“Exactly,” Vegeta said in his normal tone as he walked up and stood next to Macey who was under her broken window, on her knees, and trying to hold herself together.  “If you start spending all of your time partying and being hungover, then how are you going to fight for your life when one of the assassins comes after you?  What would you have done if I had been a real enemy trying to kill you?”

“I don’t -,” Macey began as she tried to ignore her aching head and nauseous stomach.

“That’s right,” Vegeta cut her off, “you don’t know.  You had no time to react because you’re so hungover.  You couldn’t even grab the kunai that I left sitting right next to you on your nightstand.”

“I forgot that -,” Macey started as it became harder for her to stay awake.

“You forgot that it was there,” Vegeta finished for her.  “You forgot that it was there because you were so blackout drunk that you didn’t remember me putting it there.  Do you remember me taking your phone?”

“Yes,” she replied as she tried to get back to her feet.

“Go back to bed and be hungover for a few hours,” Vegeta told her as he picked her up and floated her back up through the broken window.  “I’ll be coming to get you in a few hours after I finish my training.”

“Yeah, sure,” Macey said as she tried to keep herself from throwing up. 

“Hang on a second,” Vegeta said as he laid Macey in her bed and walked towards the bathroom.  “Here,” he said as he grabbed the trashcan and brought it over to her side of the bed, and as soon as the trashcan was placed on the floor beside her, everything from the previous night began to come up.  “Have fun,” Vegeta said as he walked towards the door and walked out of it.  She’s gotta learn one way or another, Vegeta thought as he made his way to the gravity room that had been repaired by Bulma the day before.

            Ugh, Macey thought as she finished throwing up all the alcohol from the night before, maybe my dad’s right.  I would have died if that had been a real enemy attacking me.  All I could do was sit there on the ground and try not to throw up.  What was I thinking?  I’ve never drank before.  Why would I drink that much?  And then to have sex with a guy I hardly know?  I’ve never fallen so far from the assassin path.  This isn’t what an assassin does.  Maybe Kaiser was right – maybe I have forgotten what I am.  Before she knew it, she passed back out in the comfort of her bed and was woken up two hours later by Bulma who came knocking on her door.

            “Can I come in?”  She asked as she stood outside the teenager’s room.

            “Yeah, sure,” she replied tiredly as she sat up in the bed.

“Here you go,” Bulma said as she walked in and handed Macey a giant jug of a sport’s drink and a few pain relievers for her headache.  “You shouldn’t try to drink water; it’ll make it worse especially if you drank liquor.  You need to get some electrolytes in your system.”

“Thanks,” Macey replied as she put the medicine in her mouth and washed it down with some of the sport’s drink.

“So, how are you feeling?”  Bulma chuckled.

“I think you can tell how I’m feeling,” Macey sneered at her.

“Yeah, I know, but it comes with the fun,” Bulma told her.  “You just have to know your limit.  So how was it?”

Is she really trying to talk to me like she’s one of my girlfriends?  Macey wondered as she looked at the curious woman sitting on her bed next to her.  “It was fun while it lasted, I suppose,” she shrugged as she continued to drink the sport’s drink.

“Yeah, Vegeta told me that he took your phone for a month,” Bulma said as she looked away from the sick teenager.

“Yeah, it’s whatever though,” Macey shrugged.  “I don’t know too many people anyways.  I only really ever used it to contact Kaiser in case I ever needed him.”

“Oh my God!”  She exclaimed as her eyes opened wide.  “I was supposed to train with Goku today!”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Bulma said with a chuckle.  “He came by about thirty minutes ago, but I told him you weren’t feeling well, so he told me to tell you that you can train with him anytime when you’re feeling better.”

“Awesome,” she said in a relieved tone as she laid her head back down on her pillow and closed her eyes. 

“Get some more rest,” Bulma said as she watched Macey’s eyes close.  She took the drink out of her hand and sat it on her nightstand so that she could reach it if he suddenly got thirsty.  That stupid Vegeta, Bulma shook her head as she looked at the broken window.  It’s a surprise that he didn’t hurt her.  Poor thing.

            Deep in Macey’s mind as she slept, she dreamed a dream that she hadn’t dreamed in a long time, and if she could, she would wipe the dream from her mind for forever. 

            “And the winner of the life and death match is Dea Tacita!”  The announcer yelled as Dea ended the life of her opponent with a single cut to the throat.  In the large, closed off arena with shatterproof glass surrounding it, assassins were made to fight for their contracts.  In the room, there was a manmade forest so that each assassin could fight fairly.  Some assassins preferred to stay on the ground, some preferred to stay hidden the entire time, and some, like Dea, decided to use a combination of both.  After her opponent fell lifelessly to the ground, the fourteen-year-old assassin was escorted out of the room and to Queen Enyo where she was handed the contract that she had fought for. 

            “Here you are, Miss Tacita,” Queen Enyo said as she handed the black folder over to Dea.  “Since you fought for this contract, you should already know the information in it, and just like all the other contracts, you have a month to complete this one, but I’m sure you’ll have it finished long before then.”

            “Yes, milady,” she said as she bowed and walked out of Queen Enyo’s office.

“Oh, and Dea,” she said, grabbing the young assassin’s attention.  “This time next year, you’ll be sent on your big assignment; don’t forget.”

“Yes, milady.  I won’t,” she said with a smirk as she finished walking out of the door and headed back to her small studio apartment.  Okay, she thought as she walked into her apartment, sat down at her desk, and began to prepare for the assassination that she won.  Name is Damen Simos, address is 982 X Street, height is 6’1”, hair color is blond, eye color is brown, and he’s wanted for Treason, but most importantly, his bounty is twenty-thousand dollars.  Quickly, she got her stuff together and made her way to where her target was last seen.  Okay, she thought as she entered his house.  There’s no reason that he shouldn’t come back here.  He doesn’t know about the contract placed on him, but according to my information, he’ll bolt and never be found again if he gets spooked.  Let’s make this quick, nice, and clean.  As she walked straight ahead, she transparently perched herself on the railing of the stairs that led to the second floor, and she had an arrow ready to shoot as soon as her target walked in the front door.  And if he comes in the back door, I’m sure he’ll head upstairs sometime.  As she sat there for an hour, she finally heard her target begin walking up the stairs to the front door and mess with his keys.  Aha, she smiled as her adrenaline began pumping at the sight of the knob turning.  Any second now.  As her target opened the door, he was carrying what appeared to be a bag of groceries over his left shoulder, and as soon as she confirmed that it was Damen Simos, she let go of the arrow, shot it through the bag of groceries, and into the heart of her target; however, she quickly learned that the bag of groceries wasn’t a bag of groceries when she heard the blood curling scream of an infant.  Oh no, she quickly thought as she undid her transparency and ran over to the crying baby and the dead target.  Oh no, oh no, oh no, she freaked out as tears began to fill her eyes.  As she picked up the crying baby, and undid the arrow’s transparency, she noticed that the baby was one that she was all too familiar with.  “Jason,” she whispered as she looked at the blond haired, brown eyed, baby boy that was bleeding profusely.  “Okay,” she thought as she tried to help the infant that she had just impaled with an arrow, “it doesn’t look like it went through his heart,” she told herself as she tried to find out where it had pierced.  “Hopefully it just went through his muscle, and I can get him back to the compound in time.”  However, the infant’s crying died out, and the entire house became completely silent except for Dea’s crying that she was unable to control.  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as she fell to her knees and held the infant close to her, and as her heart shattered into a million pieces, she was overcome with agony, and her crying screams were uncontrollable.  Once the clean-up crew got the call that the assassination had been completed, the infant that Dea had accidentally killed was taken along with the target.  She tried with all of her strength to keep the baby in her arms, hoping that he would wake up, but eventually, after having to use five different clean-up members at the same time, they were finally able to pry the baby from her arms, and once they were done cleaning up the mess, Dea found herself overcome with guilt and sat in the room where the tragedy had happened.

            From the result of the dream that she hadn’t had in what seemed like forever, Macey shot up straight out of her bed while she was screaming and crying in agony as tears began flowing uncontrollably which caused Bulma and Vegeta to get to the room as fast as they could to see what had happened to her.  When they arrived, they found the teenage assassin sitting on the bed with her knees hugged to her chest, and it was easy to see that her heart was breaking into a million pieces, and it was breaking to the point that it shattered Bulma and Vegeta’s.

            “Bulma, get out,” Vegeta ordered his wife, “now.”  Without argument Bulma did as she was told, but she still waited outside the door with worry as she could still hear her step-daughter crying and screaming.  Vegeta, who is usually the one to show little concern, found himself in nothing but worry as he saw his daughter having a complete mental breakdown.  “Mace,” he said in a panicked tone as he went over to sit next to his daughter who now had her knees up, her hands behind her head, her eyes closed, and was rocking back and forth.

            “I’m so sorry,” she said through her cries, “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Hey, talk to me,” Vegeta said as he put his right hand on her left arm to get her to stop moving, but it was forcibly moved when Macey swatted at him with her right hand.

“He was wearing his little dog outfit with the ears on the hood,” she cried as pain filled her heart.

“Who was?”  Vegeta pushed.  “Come on, talk to me,” he pleaded.

“His brown eyes were filled with tears and pain, and his cry is still piercing my ears,” she said in agony through her gritted teeth as she continued to rock back and forth and move her hands to cover her ears.

“Who’s eyes?”  Vegeta asked, still trying to push for an answer.

“His tiny fingers were covered in little paw shaped gloves, and on his wrist was a wristband from the carnival that they went to,” she continued cry as she seemed to be unaware of Vegeta sitting next to her trying to help her.  “I’m so sorry,” she continued as she gasped for her breath.

“Mace, who are you talking about?”  Vegeta asked again.  “What happened?”

“I’m so sorry, Jason,” she cried under her breath.  “I’m so sorry.”

“Mace, look at me,” Vegeta said as he tried to get his daughter to make eye contact with him, but she only closed her eyes tighter and lowered her head more.  “Who is Jason?”

“I kill him,” she cried out.  “It was an accident.  I didn’t mean to kill him.  I promise I didn’t mean to,” she continued.

“Mace,” Vegeta said sternly as he tried to get her attention.  “Who is Jason?”

“I killed her baby,” she continued without answering Vegeta’s question.  “I killed Pax’s baby,” she painfully cried out.

“You what?”  Vegeta said quietly in shock as his daughter began to break down even more.

“It was an accident!”  She cried.  “It was an order.  It was an accident.  I didn’t mean to hurt him.  I’m so sorry.  He was completely innocent.  His face was filled with so much fear.”

“Mace, come here,” Vegeta said quietly as he pulled Macey over to her left side and onto his lap so that her back was facing him.  “You’re going to give yourself a heart attack if you don’t calm down.”

“It was an accident,” she tried to stress to herself as she continued to loudly cry out.  Vegeta, who felt completely useless and unable to help her because she wasn’t listening to him, had a tear stream down the right side of his face at the sight of seeing Macey hurting so badly.  With nothing else he could do, he began to stroke her hair with his right hand in hopes of calming her down as she continued her breakdown on his lap.

“It was an accident,” he assured her as he stopped himself from letting anymore tears out. 

“I promise it was an accident,” she said, still crying but seeming to calm down a little bit.

“I know it was,” Vegeta replied quietly even though he knew that Macey was unaware that he was there.  It’s time for this to end, he thought angrily as he saw how much pain Macey was in and thought about how badly Nemei was traumatized.  It’s time to bring an end to all of them – everyone in the Order – especially him, he thought as his rage filled at the thought of Kaiser.  I swear he’ll pay for what he’s done to them.  That son of a bitch and everyone else involved in their suffering will die by my hands.  No one else’s.  As Vegeta’s rage engulfed him, it took everything in him to stay calm for the sake of his daughter who was seemed to be calming down as he kept stroking her hair.  Eventually, after about ten minutes of having her lay there and stroking her hair to calm her down, his efforts paid off and her screaming cries were reduced to sniffles.  “There you go,” he said quietly as she began to breathe normally.

            “Dad,” she said quietly as she opened her eyes and looked at the room in front of her with her blurred vision, “it was an accident.”  She closed her eyes again, and the layer of tears that was causing her blurred vision, turned into the last set that streamed down her face.

            “I know it was,” Vegeta said as he continued to stroke her hair.  Ten more minutes of her sniffling and saying how it was an accident went by, and the whole time, Vegeta sat there calmly yet filled with rage, stroked her hair, and assured her that it was an accident.  Then, once her breathing returned to normal, she closed her eyes, and since she was now exhausted from her breakdown and still a bit hungover, she passed out right there, laying on her father’s lap.  Carefully, Vegeta gently maneuvered her so that she was still laying on the left side of her body with her back against the pillows and headboard – the same way she had been laying on his lap.  After he gently got out from underneath her, he quietly walked to the door, opened it, and closed it behind him.

            “So, how is she?”  Bulma asked as she and Trunks stood out in the hallway.

            “I can’t wait to get my hands on these bastards,” Vegeta said with his clenched teeth as he balled his fists up.

            “What happened to her, dad?”  Trunks asked, sounding concerned for his older half-sister.

“A lot’s happened to her, son,” Vegeta replied, trying to keep them from knowing what had happened.  “If she wants to tell you, then she’ll tell you, but I’m not going to bring it up to her, and I suggest that neither of you do either,” he said in a stern tone to them as he walked away and headed back towards his gravity room.

 

…

 

            “Do you think she’s ready, sir?”  An agent asked another as they walked down the long hallway that led to the interrogation rooms where Macey was given her deal and were Nemei was being held.

            “Yes,” the other agent replied in a serious tone as the two interrogation rooms came up on their left.  “She’s been making great progress,” he said as they stopped at the first room and looked at Nemei who was sitting at a table that had been brought in for her and drawing.  Before, the room was empty and had nothing in it except for a cold, steel table and a chair, but now, while it was acting as Nemei’s home, there was a twin sized bed that was brought and a brand new table so that she could be comfortable and not have to sit on the cold, steel furniture.  “She still won’t talk though,” he informed the agent next to him, “she’ll only reply in drawings.  It took us hours to be able to go in there without her trying to attack us, but finally, she calmed down, and we were able to take the muzzle off of her and give her some new furniture to keep her comfortable.  We tried to get her to talk to us, but she refused to speak, and at first, she would carve words into the wooden desk we put in there, so we just got her a bunch of paper and some colored pencils, and she hasn’t stopped drawing since.”

“Very good,” the other agent replied.

“Yes, it is,” the explaining agent agreed.  “We should be able to get some information about what happened to her in no time, and then she should be ready to be transferred to your department.”

“Yeah, about that,” the other agent said as he exhaled and turned towards the agent who explained the status of Nemei, causing the agent to look at him.  Before he could tell what was happening, the explaining agent was met with a kunai to the lung that the other agent had hidden up his right sleeve.

“A…agent…Berry,” the explaining agent said in shock and disbelief as he felt his breathing become more difficult.  Without saying a word, Agent Berry pulled the kunai out of the other agent’s back and allowed him to drop onto the floor.

Okay, Nemei, it’s time you come with me, he thought as he smirked through the two-way wall and watched the young assassin quietly draw her pictures.


	14. Chapter 14 - A Message from Nemei

**“Intelligence entails a strong mind, but genius entails a heart of a lion in tune with a strong mind.” – Criss Jami**

 

            After passing out on Saturday, Macey ended up sleeping for the entirety of the day and through the night, Sunday though, she awoke at eight o’clock in the morning and was relieved to feel that the effects of her night drinking were gone. 

            Thank God, she thought as she woke up in her bed and didn’t feel a headache or any nausea.  I’m never doing that again.  She got up from her bed and walked into her bathroom to take a shower.  Once she finished, she put on another outfit that she had borrowed from her step-mother – a pink hoodie that had fuzzy material on the inside, a pair of casual blue jeans, a pair of black tennis shoes, and a black handbag to carry her wallet and kunai in.  As she looked at herself in the mirror, she decided to put makeup on in order to cover the scar on her face, and then she made the choice to change her hair and eyes back to their normal color – the color that matched her father’s.  Her hair that had been done nicely two nights ago, was down in its normal wavy shape, as she decided not to do anything to it.  I’ve really gotta get my own clothes, she thought as she looked at herself in the mirror.  After switching her knife and wallet to the new handbag, she made her way downstairs to where her father, half-brother, and step-mother were eating breakfast.  “Why didn’t anyone wake me?”  She asked in a half-joking tone as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a plate.

            “We weren’t sure if you felt better or not,” Trunks said with his mouth full of food.

            “I feel a lot better,” she chuckled.  “I won’t be trying that again.”

            “Yeah,” Vegeta said with a scoff, “I know you won’t.”

“Yeah, I think I learned my lesson after how bad I felt,” she said, making fun of herself.

It’s like she doesn’t even remember her breakdown, Vegeta thought as he looked at his seemingly content daughter.  She’s an expert at hiding it – I’ll give her that.

“Oh, by the way,” Macey said as she sat down at the table with a plate of food.  “I think it’s about time I get my own clothes.  No offense, Bulma, but yours aren’t really my type,” she said as she held up the pink hoodie for everyone to see.

            “Well, I gave you that credit card,” Bulma said with a smile.  “How about we go shopping?!”  She exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah, about that,” Vegeta said as he took a bite of his food and reached into the pocket of his sweat pants.  “That’s not happening,” he said as he took Macey’s credit card that had been cut up out of his pocket and placed it on the table – catching everyone by surprise.

“What the hell?!”  Macey exclaimed as she got angry from looking at her card completely cut up.  “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“Six weeks,” Vegeta said as he upped the time her phone would be gone again and went back to eating.

“Vegeta,” Bulma said in shock and disbelief as she looked at him acting like he didn’t do anything wrong.

“Trunks, go upstairs,” Vegeta told his son.  Without argument, Trunks ran upstairs, but then he quietly made his way halfway down the stairs to listen in on the conversation and possible argument that was about to unfold.

            “Vegeta, what are you doing?”  Bulma desperately asked her husband.

            “Listen very carefully to me – both of you,” Vegeta began as he finished eating.  “After Macey’s little stunt the other night, I’ve decided to lay down rules for her that I expect to be followed to a “T”.  Rule number one – you will not go anywhere unless I tell you that you can.  Rule number two – if I tell you to go change your clothes, then you go change.  Rule number three – each time you break one of the rules, something that you did not buy yourself will be taken from you, like your phone and/or your credit card, and every time you curse at me, insult me, or try to defy me, I will keep the things I take away from you longer, which is why your phone went from one week from being taken to six.  Now,” he continued as he reached back into his pocket, “I didn’t actually cut up your credit card – I was just seeing how you’d react, so in the end, you cursed at me for no reason.  Which leads me to rule number four – I will be putting you on a spending limit.  Even though Bulma has given you unlimited use of it, you can only use six-hundred dollars of it a month.  It’s not because I pay for the bill, but because I’m limiting you the freedom you have.”

            “What are you doing?”  Macey ask quietly in disbelief at her father.  “After I cried my eyes out to you yesterday, you’re doing this to me?”

“You went on and on about how you want to feel like a normal teenager, so that’s what I’m doing,” he said sternly.  “Normal teenagers don’t follow assassin rules and guidelines – they follow rules that their parents enforce.  And besides, if I let you run around as you please, you’re going to go end up either assassinated or pregnant.”

“But -,” she began.

“And in case you’ve forgotten, you’re legally in our custody, but you’re my flesh and blood, so whatever I say goes,” he said as he cut her off.  “I said it last night, but I’ll say it again – Kaiser didn’t raise you right.  If anything, he was probably more of a friend to you, and that’s why you feel like you deserve all the freedom in the world.”

            “Don’t I get a say in this?”  Bulma said as she turned her attention to her husband.  “Legally, I’m her mother.”

“You’re not my mother,” Macey said quietly, almost out of hearing range for Bulma and Vegeta.

“Anything you want to add?”  He asked in an annoyed tone as he looked at his wife.  “Now’s your chance.”

“No,” she said, “I think you pretty much said what I would’ve.”

“So, now tell me,” Vegeta said in a stern voice as he turned back towards his daughter, “if it’s so hard for you to follow my four simple rules, how the hell are you going to follow my orders in a war?”

“Huh?  What war?”  Macey asked with a puzzled face.

“I’ve decided that we’re going to go to war with the assassins,” Vegeta said.  “Every single one of them and their planet will be destroyed.”

“What?”  Bulma and Macey said in unison and shock as they heard what Vegeta was planning.  “No, you can’t do that!”  Macey exclaimed as worry came across her face.  “A good majority of the Assassin race are normal, hardworking people who have nothing to do with those of us who work as assassins,” she began to explain.  “We aren’t strictly a warrior race.  Our race is almost exactly like the one here on Earth.  There are those in the military, and then there are those who are just normal civilians.  And besides, if you blow up New Planet Phonoi, you’ll destroy the Earth!”

“What are you talking about?!”  Vegeta snapped.  “After everything they’ve done, you still want to defend them?!”

“No!”  She yelled back.  “There are completely innocent people there.  What aren’t you getting about that?”

“So we’ll gather as many innocents as we can and then blow the planet!”  Vegeta yelled back at her.

“Didn’t you hear me?!  If you blow the planet up, then you’ll destroy the Earth!”  She stressed to him.

“How could blowing up one planet possibly destroy this one?!”  He angrily asked.

“Because!”  She began.  “New Planet Phonoi is the Earth!  Our sky is your ground!”  As she said that, Vegeta and Macey’s fighting stopped and complete silence filled the room as Bulma and Vegeta looked at the teenage assassin in utter shock.

            “What do you mean, ‘New Planet Phonoi is the Earth’?” Vegeta questioned quietly as he looked at his daughter who was looking down at the full plate of food on her table.

            “After the Saiyans destroyed our first planet, the assassins found refugee on a remote planet,” Macey began, “and then once Doctor Mors found Saiyan DNA on Earth, he talked Queen Enyo into moving the race.  The Assassin race dwells inside the Earth – your ground is our sky.  Each city on this planet has an entry point to our planet.  That’s why the C.I.A. knows about us, and that’s why most of our assassinations nowadays are on Earth and why we know so much about human technology.”

“How could there possibly be life inside the Earth?”  Bulma questioned.  “The core burns so hot that life isn’t sustainable.”

“Imagine a planet inside of a planet,” Macey began.  “First, there’s the outer planet – Earth, then as everyone knows, the Earth has a core; however, while most people believe that the core is in the center of the Earth, it’s actually in the center of New Planet Phonoi.  New Planet Phonoi was built around the Earth’s core so that life would be sustainable.  It’s naturally dark – yes, but we managed to learn from the Earth’s technology and we learned how to use the core as a means for electricity and other technological advances.  For water, we buy it from the people of Earth in their stores – tons and tons at a time.  Our planet is almost an exact replica of Earth, although the Earth is far more advanced.”

“How could there be a planet built around the Earth’s core?”  Vegeta scoffed.  “Sounds far-fetched if you ask me.”

“Queen Enyo,” she chuckled.  “Queen Enyo is the strongest in the entire Assassin race.  She has abilities that no other Assassin has.  She created our planet inside of Earth, but it was up to the Assassin race to advance it.  As soon as the Assassins arrived on New Planet Phonoi was when my sister and I were created, and if I had to guess, the DNA that Doctor Mors found through the universe wide database was probably Goku’s.”

“Or Gohan’s,” Bulma suggested.

“Yeah,” Macey agreed.  “That’s why if you cause too much damage to New Planet Phonoi, it’ll destroy the Earth.”

“How do you even get back and forth?”  Vegeta curiously asked.

“It’s really not that difficult,” Macey chuckled.  “We modeled our ships after the Capsule Corp ships, so they’re fast and efficient.  Each city has its own entry point that we use to leave Earth and go to New Planet Phonoi or vice versa.  Inside one of these entry points, there’s a single ship, and we simply get into the ship if it’s already there, but if it isn’t, we call it up from New Planet Phonoi.  Thanks to our engineers copying Capsule Corp, it only takes about thirty minutes to get to and from each planet, and then from there, it works like the highway.  Then, at the end of the short voyage, we get off at the entry point on New Planet Phonoi and go about our business.”

“I – I never would have thought a planet could exist inside of Earth,” Vegeta said in shock as he looked down to the floor.

“Yeah, well, it does,” Macey confirmed as she chowed down on her food, “and that’s why I can’t let you destroy it.”

“Fine,” Vegeta reluctantly agreed, “but if this planet can sustain war, then so can that one.  I’ll agree not to blow it up, but there will be a war as soon as we confirm who’s behind all of this.”

“And that’s fine,” Macey said as she started to get another attitude in her voice but stopped when she saw the look on her father’s face.  “As long as no innocents are injured,” she said quietly as she looked back down at her plate.

“We need to go see Nemei today,” Vegeta said, changing the subject as Macey stood up, walked over to the sink, and washed her plate off, “we didn’t get to go yesterday because you were so hungover.”

“Ready when you are,” she said casually.

“I’ll call Agent Itami and let her know that you’re on your way,” Bulma said as she got up from the table and walked into the other room with her cell phone in hand.  The father-daughter duo made their way to the front door, and as they stepped out of it, the cold air felt like knives cutting into their skin.

            “Oh my God,” Macey said as she shivered, “do we really have to fly there?”

            “Come on,” Vegeta said as he motioned for Macey to get on his back, “it’ll be over before you know it.”

“Whatever,” Macey scoffed as she got on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Remind me to teach you how to fly when we get back,” Vegeta said as he looked back at his freezing daughter and took to the sky – causing her to grip him tighter.

“Please just hurry up,” she said as she shook uncontrollably, “it’s freezing out here.”  Following his daughter’s request, and also because he was just as cold, Vegeta took off as fast as he could.  After about ten minutes of silent, freezing flying, the two landed in the garage where Vegeta and Bulma had drove in when they were called by the agent.  Waiting for them was a black SUV with two agents, and once they were identified and patted down, they were escorted to the warm car that had the heater on blast.  “Thank God,” Macey said, sounding relived as she tried to warm herself up in the backseat.  Without saying a word, one of the agents got in the driver’s seat and began the ten-mile drive to the underground black site.

            Once they arrived at the black site, they were escorted inside the building, identified again, and then patted down once more. 

            “So, where’s my daughter?”  Vegeta asked in a demanding tone.

            “Right this way, sir,” one of the agents answered as he motioned for Vegeta and Macey to follow him down the hallway.

            Hopefully she’ll be able to tell us something, Macey thought hopefully as she and Vegeta made their way down the hallway and towards the rooms where they were held.  As the got to the room that was acting as Nemei’s home, they looked through the two-way wall and saw her sitting at her table drawing. 

“What is she doing?”  Vegeta asked as she turned his attention to the agent that had led them down to the room.

“She’s drawing,” he replied.  “So far, it’s the only way that we’ve gotten her to communicate with us.  She’s made quite a lot of progress even though it may not seem like it.”

“How much longer is she going to have to be cooped up here?”  Vegeta asked as he began to sound irritated.

“Until we feel that she’s overcome most of her trauma,” the agent answered.  “She was almost transferred too early to the interrogation unit, but luckily when we came to bring her breakfast this morning, we got it all situated.”

“Is it okay if I go in there?”  Macey asked quietly as she looked at her sister.

“I’m not sure if that would be such a good idea,” the agent replied.  “You were the last person to fight her almost to the death, so seeing you might not do her any good.”  Without replying, Macey changed her hair and eye color to its purple color so that she wouldn’t look too familiar.  “How about now?”  She asked as she turned around to the agent.

“You can try,” he said quietly, “but if she starts to have a breakdown, you need to get out of there.”

“Right,” she replied quietly as she began to twist the door knob to the door that would lead her to her twin sister.  Here goes nothing, she thought as the door knob slowly turned in her hand.  After it turned completely, she pushed the door open, and standing only a few feet away from here was her older, twin sister.  “Hi, there,” she said quietly as she slowly and quietly closed the door behind her.  “My name’s Macey,” she said in a soft, kind tone as she leaned against the door.  Nemei, who was still sitting at her table drawing, didn’t look up to Macey and acted as if she was unaware that she was there.  My God, Macey thought as she stood there and looked at her sister, it’s hard to believe that she’s the one who nearly killed me.

“Turn the mic on,” Vegeta whispered over to the agent as they watched the interaction between the two of them.

“Can I…get you anything?”  Macey quietly and hesitantly offered, and for the first time, she received a reply from the traumatized assassin.  As Nemei continued to look down at what she was drawing, she shook her head ‘no’.  “Alright then,” Macey said kindly and softly.  “Do you mind if I sit down?”  She asked as she pointed to the chair across from Nemei, and again, Nemei shook her head ‘no’ – indicating that Macey could sit in the chair across from her.  Slowly and carefully, Macey made her way to the chair – making sure to keep an eye on her sister the entire time.  “So,” she began as she sat down and was now inches away from her sister, “whatcha got there?”  Without saying a word, Nemei quickly shoved her pile of drawings that were completed towards Macey and began drawing on a new sheet of paper.  As the drawings scattered all over the floor around Macey, she carefully bent down to pick them up.  “These are some really pretty drawings,” Macey said with a smile as she looked at them while she got back up in her chair.  What are these?  She wondered as she tried to figure out the meaning of her drawings.  I know they have some sort of meaning.  From looking at the drawings in front of her, Macey could tell one was a bank safe, one was just a piece of paper that she had colored blue, another one was what looked like a family with two girls, a mom, a dad, and an older brother, the next one was the brother character from the previous drawing by himself, the next was a drawing of a kunai, and the last two were the father character by himself.  “Hey, Nemei,” Macey said quietly as she got done looking at the pictures, “why don’t you help me figure out what these mean?”

Nemei shook her head.  “Well, alright then,” Macey said with a smile.

            “Miss Evans,” the agent said as he peeked in the door to get Macey’s attention, “you’ve been in here long enough.  It’s time for her to eat lunch.”

            “Right,” Macey said quietly.  When Macey went to get up out of the chair and walk towards the door, Nemei quickly grabbed a folded up the paper from under the table and then secretly put it in Macey’s hand.  Without saying a word, Nemei made eye contact for the first time with Macey but quickly looked back down at her table and continued drawing.  “Thank you,” Macey said with a small smile as she put the paper in her front right pocket.

            “So, how was it?”  Vegeta asked as his daughter came back out.

“She’s traumatized – that’s for sure,” Macey said quietly as she looked at her sister who was still drawing.  “I’m ready to go,” she said as she turned towards her father and the agent.

“Would you like to try to get her to talk with you?”  The agent asked Vegeta.

“No,” he replied.  What did she hand Macey?  He wondered.  This guy might have missed that little hand off, but I didn’t.  “If she wouldn’t talk to Macey, then I don’t see why she’d talk with me,” he added.

“When is she supposed to be transferred?”  Macey asked as she changed her hair and eyes back to black and the trio began walking back to the car that they arrived in.

“As soon as she begins to speak with us, she’ll be transferred to the interrogation department,” the agent answered as they walked out of the building and began to enter the car.  Eagerly and anxiously, Macey wanted to get back to Capsule Corp so that she could open the letter that her sister had secretly given her.  What could it be?  She wondered as she stared out of the window during the entire ten-mile drive back to the garage.  Clearly, she didn’t want the agent seeing it.

            “Alright, let’s go,” Macey said, sounding like she was in a hurry once they arrived back at the garage.

            “Right,” Vegeta said with suspicion in his voice as he watched his youngest daughter who was making a bee-line for the garage exit.  “Come on,” he said quietly as he motioned for her to get on his back.

“This is really getting embarrassing,” she scoffed.

“You’re telling me,” he replied quietly.  “Now, come on.”

Reluctantly, Macey got on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck just like before, and just like before, Vegeta took off as fast as he could and headed straight back to Capsule Corp.  Once they arrived back at Capsule Corp, Macey sprinted through the main doors, grabbed her backpack from the front door area, and began to sprint up the stairs and to her room. 

“In a hurry?”  Vegeta asked as he walked in behind his daughter who was at the top of the first set of stairs.

“Yeah,” she said quickly.  “School tomorrow.  Lots of homework.”

“Hmph,” Vegeta scoffed.  Yeah, I’m sure, he thought as he headed towards the hallway and down to his gravity room.  Whatever was on that paper must have been of some importance.  I’ve never seen her act that frantic.

            After she quickly and quietly made her way into her room, she closed and locked the door and headed over to her large, comfortable bed.

            “Okay,” she sighed, “what did Nemei write on this paper?”  She asked herself with a feeling of hope come over her; however, once she opened up the small, tightly folded piece of paper, all hope seemed to drain out of her when she saw that contents of it.  “You have got to be kidding me,” she said to herself in aggravation as she looked at what had been written inside.  Written in Nemei’s handwriting was a letter that Macey had never seen before.  All that was inside the letter was:

 

01041805 050401

2502 052008 09132005 152521 0503040918081605 09192008 09 09122312 1502022512181601 0502 05040401 09 05220801 09231418202005 1409 09192008 15030405 1409 01190305 152521 05191215 09192008 05201415 09 15231114 152521 051801 0120131918 150714080521 1520 211807060509 2009 212015 09 01201423 152521 1520 15231114 01082020 09 010804 09140720081415 1520 1504 09082320 052008 010320112001 1409 052008 01111618 2009 012319 152014 2513 090308031505 09 15231114 212515 051801 0903131407050215 211621191909031915 0615 091118051901 200221 152521 05140405 1520 15231114 01082020 0508 1909 152014 052008 15122514 051415

09180111140105 15181913 0508 1909 152014 052008 011413 152521 0911142008 0508 1909

0509161903201821 01061905 1518251201 090613122501 05021808201815 0911211401 012006081805 012006081805

0509131405

 

“What the hell is this supposed to be?”  She annoyingly asked herself.  “No,” she continued, “Nemei wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble if there wasn’t something meaningful in here.”  Numbers, she thought.  Could they be a formula?  Or will they lead me to a destination?  As she tried to figure out what the numbers could mean, she got her calculator out of her backpack and attempted to see if they multiplied or added up to anything.  “This doesn’t make any sense,” she said to herself as she kept coming up with no results and “error” screens.  Maybe Bulma has something that could decipher it.  After what seemed like forever of her trying to add and multiply the groups of numbers and putting them together, she heard a knock followed by a familiar voice at her door.

            “Hey, Macey,” Bulma said from the other side of the door, “can I come in?”

“Uh, yeah,” Macey said as she pulled out her actual schoolwork, “hang on a sec.”  Standing on the other side of the door was Bulma, who was holding a giant plate of food and a cup of juice.  “Holy crap,” she chuckled.  “What’s with the room service?”

“Vegeta told me how you bolted upstairs to work on your homework,” Bulma began as she walked into the room, “so when you didn’t come down when I called for dinner, I figured that you might just be working really hard, so I brought you the leftovers.”

Dinner?  Macey thought in shock as her step-mother put her food on the nightstand.  I missed dinner?  It was just mid-morning.

“Hey,” Bulma said as she looked at the homework that Macey had planted, “it doesn’t look like you’ve even started any of this.”

“Oh,” Macey said as she tried to come up with an excuse on the spot, “I’ve already finished most of it.  I just have one last subject to do,” she lied.

“Oh, good job!”  Bulma exclaimed.  “What do you have left to do?”

Dammit, Macey thought.  Why does she have to ask so many damn questions?!  “Intricate calculations,” Macey chuckled.  Technically, it is an intricate calculation. 

“Neat!”  Bulma excitedly replied.  “Let me know if you need any help,” she told Macey as she headed for the door, “I know my way around programs and calculations.”

I figured you would, Macey thought.  “Actually,” she said, catching Bulma’s attention.  “Do you think you might be able to tell me what kind of formula this is?”  Macey grabbed the paper that Nemei had given to her and walked it over to Bulma.  As Bulma looked at the series of numbers, a puzzled look came on her face. 

“This isn’t anything I’ve ever seen,” she said as she shook her head.  “Honestly, it looks more like an encryption than anything.”

Encryption, Macey thought as she took another glance at the paper with the numbers on it.  “Do you know how to decrypt encryptions?”  She asked.

“Not unless you have the key,” Bulma began.  “If you knew what each number or set of numbers corresponded to, then you could be able to translate it, but other than that, I don’t know of any other way.  Do you have the key?”  She asked.

“No,” Macey answered, sounding disappointed.  “Do you think that it would be possible to make one?”

“You could make one if you knew what the hidden message was,” Bulma shrugged.  “Those numbers could mean anything.”

Damn you, Nemei, Macey thought.  Why would you give me an impossible message to understand? 

“Maybe ask Vegeta,” Bulma suggested.  “There might be a pattern in it, and I know he’s pretty good at seeing patterns – at least when it comes to fighting.  He might be able to help.”

I didn’t want him knowing about this, Macey told herself as she took another look at the impossible code in her hand.  Screw it; I’m not getting anywhere on my own.  “I guess I will,” Macey said as she followed her step-mother out of the room.  While Bulma went down the hallway towards her and Vegeta’s room, Macey went the opposite way to make her way down to the kitchen.  “Hey,” Macey said quickly, grabbing Vegeta’s attention who was about to head back to his gravity room, “can you help me with something?”

            “Depends on what it is,” Vegeta replied as he stood in the doorway between the kitchen and hallway with his arms crossed.

“Here,” she said as she walked towards her father and handed him the paper, “Nemei gave this to me.”

“I was wondering when you were going to let me see it,” Vegeta said as he looked at the paper and the numbers that were written on it.  “What the hell is this?”  He asked.

Macey shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I was hoping you could help me figure it out,” she said.  “Bulma said that there might be some sort of pattern.  I’ve tried everything,” she continued.  “I tried adding each set of numbers and adding them all up.  I tried multiplying them.  I’ve tried dividing them – everything.”

“It’s not a formula,” Vegeta said as he continued to scan the note.  “It’s a code – formulas don’t have patterns like these.”

“Huh?”  Macey said as she looked at her father with confusion on her face.  “How can you be so sure?”

Vegeta sighed.  “Back when I was still in Frieza’s army, we would communicate between ships and each other through coded messages in case they were intercepted,” he said as he handed the paper back to his daughter, “but as long as there’s no key for it, it’s impossible to decode it.”

“Well, where is this pattern that you’re seeing?”  She asked in suspicion as she tried to look for the pattern that her father had found in a matter of seconds.

“Right here,” he said as he grabbed a pen off of the kitchen counter, took the paper from Macey, set it down on the table, and circled a few sets of the numbers.  “052008 and 152521are repeated over and over.”

“Wow,” Macey said in awe as she watched him circle the matching sets.  “Can you please help me decode this?”  She begged.

“I have training to do,” he insisted as he set the pen down and started to walk back towards his gravity room.

“Please,” she quietly begged.  “It must be important if Nemei went through all the trouble to write a message in numbers.  You can train any time, but who knows how time-sensitive this could be?”

“Dammit,” Vegeta scoffed as he pulled out a chair at the table, sat down, and crossed his arms, “fine.  Filled with hope once again, Macey walked over to the coffee maker and made an entire pot of coffee.  “It’s almost eight o’clock,” Vegeta said as he looked at the clock on the wall ahead of him.  “You’re drinking coffee now?”

“Yeah,” Macey said with a smile.  “Who knows how long it’ll take us to decode this,” she chuckled. 

“Right,” Vegeta sighed as he tried to find more patterns in the code.  “You know,” he began as Macey began to pour her cup of coffee, “you should really be the one doing this – not me.  After all, she did give it to you.”

“I’ve tried everything I can think of,” she said as she sat down next to her father and started to look at the paper.  “I can’t come up with anything.”

“Do you have any colored pencils or pens?”  Vegeta asked his daughter as he continued to look at the paper.

“Yeah, why?”  Macey asked as she took a sip of her coffee and set it back down on the table.

“Go get them,” he ordered her.  “Don’t ask questions, just go do it.”

“Right,” she said, sounding a little offended as she got up from the table and quickly ran upstairs to grab her backpack.  “Sheesh.”

Alright, Nemei, Vegeta began to think to himself as he looked at the numbers.  What are you trying to tell us?

            “Here,” Macey said as she took out her pack of colored pencils and tossed them to her father.  “What’re you going to do?”

            “I’m going to color code it,” he answered as he took a blue pencil out.  “Each matching set will have their own color.  All of the 052008 sets will be circled in blue, all the 152521 sets will be circled in green, and so on.”

“What’s the point of that?”  Macey asked with a puzzled face as she set her bag against the wall and went to sit back down.

Vegeta sighed.  “In my experience, matching number sets usually mean the same thing.  So, every 052008 probably means that same thing, so we’ll only have to figure out what it means once.”

“Anything I can do to help?”  Macey asked as she interrupted her father who was trying to focus on finding the matching sets.

“Start trying to figure out what the numbers mean,” he said with annoyance in his voice.

With a sigh, Macey got up and walked back over to her backpack and grabbed a notebook and a pencil.  As she sat back down at the table, she opened up to the pages that she had marked all over when she was trying to figure out what the numbers meant the first time.  Dates?  She thought as she started to write down the mysterious numbers.

“Hmph,” Vegeta chuckled as he watched her start writing the sets down one by one.

“What’s so funny?”  She asked as she tried to figure out what he had laughed at.

“Left-handed,” he said with another chuckle. 

“What about it?”  She asked, feeling offended and crossing her arms.  “Nemei is too.”

“The only other person that I know of who is left handed was my father,” Vegeta informed her.

“Apparently, genetics play a role handiness,” Macey shrugged as she went back to writing.  “I think it’s cool – makes me feel different.”

After two hours of circling the matching sets, Vegeta finally finished and after Macey’s four cups of coffee, she was nowhere close to figuring out what the numbers meant. 

            “Done,” Vegeta said as he put the last colored pencil down and leaned back in his chair.

            “Well, that took longer than I thought,” Macey said as she looked at the clock that now showed that it was ten o’clock.  “I have no idea what these could mean,” she continued as she passed her piece of scratch paper to her father.  “I tried dates, formulas, everything.”

“Everything but the obvious,” Vegeta scoffed.  “Mace, what makes up a note?”

“Oh my God,” Macey said as realization hit her and she slumped down in her chair and covered her eyes.  “Letters,” she whispered.

“Words,” Vegeta corrected her.  “Each one of these sets corresponds to a word.”

“So, now we have to figure out which word goes with each set,” Macey said in understanding.

“Right,” Vegeta agreed, “so, start matching.”

“Wait,” she said as her father began to get up and walk out of the room, “aren’t you going to help me?”

“I am,” he said as he continued to walk out.  “I’m getting something that will help us.”

Letters, Macey began to brainstorm.  I guess the fives kind of looks like “s’s”, the twos could be “z’s”, zeros could be “o’s”, and the eights could be “b’s”.  So that’d be…szoob, she thought as she wrote down the first attempt of cracking the code.

“Alright,” Vegeta said as he walked back into the kitchen with a dictionary in his hand.  “You write, I’ll read.”

“Read what?”  Macey asked as she picked up a pencil and a blank sheet of paper.

“The front page of the dictionary has what number each letter is in the alphabet,” he showed her, “so instead of trying to figure out where in the alphabet the letter “s” is, I’ll just use this and get it done faster.”

“You think they could correspond to the alphabet?”  She asked in suspicion.

“Maybe,” he said.  “Can’t hurt to try.  I’m going to go in the order that they’re written,” he added as he sat back down at the table and looked at the color coded note.  “So, the first set of numbers on the paper is “01041805”.  So, that would be “ADRE” if we were to convert it to the alphabet.”

“Great,” Macey said as she wrote it down, “it still makes absolutely no sense.”

“Stop complaining and keep writing,” he quietly snapped at her.  “Next set is “050401”,” he continued.  So, that’d be “EDA”.

“Or it could mean “May 4th, 2001”,” Macey scoffed under her breath.

“Seven weeks,” Vegeta said quietly as he upped the time for her phone being taken.  After going through each set of numbers, the father-daughter duo finally came up with an actual letter instead of numbers.

            “Great,” Macey said as she finished writing the last of the number sets.  “It still makes absolutely no sense.”  The message that had been deciphered from the numbers given by Nemei read:

 

Adre Eda

Yb eth imte oyu ecdirhpe isth, I ilwl obbylrpa eb edda.  I evha iwnrtte ni isth ocde ni asce oyu eslo isth etno.  I owkn oyu era atmsr ognheu ot urgfei ti uto.  I atnw oyu ot owkn ahtt I ahd ingthno ot od ihwt eth actkta ni eth akpr.  Ti aws otn ym ichcoe.  I owkn uyo era icmngebo upussicso fo Ikresa tbu oyu ende ot owkn ahtt eh si otn eth olyn eno.

Iraknae Orsm - Eh si otn eth anm oyu iknth eh si

Eipsctru

Afse Oryla Ifmlya Ebrhtro Ikuna Atfhre Atfhre

Eimne

 

            “It’s another code,” Vegeta said quietly as he looked at the unreadable words that Macey had written.  “Smart girl,” he said with a chuckle.

“How can you be so sure?”  Macey asked.  “How do you know we didn’t just decode it wrong?”

“Look at the new patterns,” he said as he pointed to one of the words.  “Each word that has more than one vowel begins and ends with a vowel.  When a word doesn’t have a vowel, the letters are just switched around.  When there is only one vowel per word, the vowel is put in front unless it spells out the actual word.”

“You lost me,” Macey said as she shook her head. 

“Right here,” Vegeta said, sounding aggravated as he pointed to the first word that Macey had written down.  “Adre.  It begins and ends with a vowel,” he pointed out.  “Right here is the word Yb.  Because there is no vowel in there, she simply switched it around – so in reality, it should read “By”.  Right here, where it says “ni”, it should read “in”, but if she had left the vowel out front, then it would have spelled the actual word, and right here, is “atnw”.  There’s only one vowel, and since that one vowel being in the front doesn’t spell out the actual word, it’s placed in the front of the word.  She did this on purpose.”

“So, all we have to do is figure out what words they’re supposed to be,” Macey said quietly.  “Well,” she continued as she got up to make another cup of coffee, “it’s only eleven-thirty, so let’s get this done with.  You take half, and I’ll take half.”

“You take the top half, I’ll take the bottom,” Vegeta said as he tore the paper with the new code on it in half and placed the top half in front of his daughter.  After two hours of endless rearranging of letters, they each finally came up with a finished result that read clearly – sort of.  The new message that sat in front of the two read:

 

Dear Dea,

By the time you decipher this, I will probably be dead.  I have written in this code in case you lose this note.  I know you are smart enough to figure it out.  I want you to know that I had nothing to do with the attack in the park.  It was not my choice.  I know you are becoming suspicious of Kaiser, but you need to know that he is not the only one.

Iraknae Orsm – He is not the man you think he is

Pictures

Safe Royal Family Brother Kunai Father Father

Nemei

 

“What the hell?”  Macey said quietly as she read the two parts that were put together.  “What is this supposed to mean?”

“I’m not sure,” Vegeta said as he looked at the note.

            “As soon as she begins to speak with us, she’ll be transferred to the interrogation department,” Vegeta remembered the agent saying when Macey asked him when Nemei was going to be transferred.  “By the time you decipher this, I will probably be dead,” he repeated in his mind.

“How could she have known when we were going to decipher this?”  Vegeta asked his daughter.

“She couldn’t have,” Macey answered.

“So then how would she know that she would probably be dead by the time we did?”  Vegeta asked.

“I don’t-,” Macey began. 

“As soon as she beings to speak with us, she’ll be transferred to the interrogation department,” Vegeta said as he repeated the agent’s words. 

“Yeah, what about it?”  Macey asked.  “She hasn’t said anything to them.”

“Remember how you told me that you know when you’re being given the advantage?”  Vegeta reminded his daughter.

“Yeah, what about -,” she started before being cut off.

“So does she,” he concluded.  “If she can write in this big of a coded message, then there’s no way she’s as traumatized as we think.  I think she used the C.I.A. to get you this information while keeping her cover.  Think about it,” he continued.  “As soon as she begins to speak.  By the time you decipher this.  She’ll be transferred to the interrogation department.  I will probably be dead.”

“She’s gonna die at the interrogation department,” Macey concluded, “or thinks she is.”

“She started talking the moment we left,” Vegeta said quietly.  “If we deciphered this before she got transferred, then she would’ve been a caught mole, and all of this information would have been useless.  She got transferred right after she gave this to us.”

“So, she’s been in control this whole time,” Macey deduced.  “She knows exactly what she’s doing.”

“Why would she wait until we showed up to tell you all this?”  Vegeta questioned.  “Why not just tell you when you fought her in the park or when you found her at your warehouse?”

“Maybe she couldn’t,” Macey suggested.  “Maybe she didn’t have all the information that she needed.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Vegeta countered.  “It had to take her a long time to write these codes,” he said as he looked back down at the numbers.  “And not to mention, weren’t C.I.A. agents the ones who broke you two apart when you fought her at the warehouse?  How would she have gathered information after getting the two of you taken to the black site?”

“That was her plan,” Macey quietly realized.  “She planned all of this,” she scoffed in disbelief.  “She most likely gave the C.I.A. a tip that an illegal assassination was happening, so when they showed up and found her fighting me, they assumed that she was the assassin carrying it out.  She risked her life to tell us this.  Getting caught doing an illegal contract is one of the only reasons that she would be executed by the C.I.A.”

“But why write it in a code?”  Vegeta asked.  “Why wouldn’t she just tell you on the way to the black site, at the warehouse, or in the park?”

“Because she was being watched,” Macey concluded.  “At the park, there was probably someone watching and listening, and at the warehouse, she had to keep up her front.”

“But that doesn’t answer on the way to the black site,” Vegeta insisted.  “How many people were in the car on the way there?”

“Four,” Macey answered.  “Nemei, me, the agent from earlier, and another agent.”

“There’s a reason that she didn’t talk in the car,” Vegeta went on, “and I’m willing to bet that it was one of those agents.”

            “Who is Iraknae Orsm?”  Macey asked as she looked at her father’s half.

            “No clue,” he answered.  “I thought you might know.”

“Hang on a second,” she said quietly as she grabbed the second code.  “You didn’t decode it,” she scoffed.

“I figured that it was a name,” Vegeta shrugged.  “It looked like a name, and I couldn’t figure out what to change it to.”  As Macey went to work on moving the letters around, within five minutes she figured out what her father missed.

“Arikane Mors,” she began.  “He is not the man you think he is.”  Is not?  Macey thought as she read the sentence.  “Is not,” she said quietly.  “The present tense.”

“Perhaps she doesn’t know he’s dead,” Vegeta suggested.

“No,” Macey denied.  “She’s been so careful up to this point, why would she switch tenses out of nowhere?  Something bigger is going on here.”

“You never met Arikane Mors, did you?”  Vegeta asked her.

“No,” she shook her head.  “I’ve never even seen a picture of him.”

“He could have been one of the agents in the car,” Vegeta suggested.  “That why she didn’t say anything.”

“Okay, so wait,” Macey said as she began to sound and feel overwhelmed.  “So what we’re saying is that Nemei was being watched at the park, so she couldn’t tell me all this then.  Then, she set it up so that C.I.A. agents would break us up during an “illegal” assassination and take us to the black site.  During the car ride, she couldn’t tell me then, because Arikane Mors might have been one of the agents.  So then, she acts like she’s more traumatized than she actually is in order to get what she wants which ends up being paper and pencils so that she can write this code.  She knew that I’d come see her eventually, so all she had to do was wait it out until I showed up.  Then, after giving me the coded message, she started talking to the agents and is probably in interrogation as we speak.”

“She’s a genius,” Vegeta said quietly.  “I do believe that she’s traumatized to some degree because of the obvious wounds on her, but I think she also used those to her advantage.”

“So, what’re we going to do?”  Macey asked her father.

“We’re going to break her out of that interrogation room,” he said with a smirk.

“Assassin and a Saiyan working together on a mission?”  She chuckled.  “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“You’re a Saiyan too,” he reminded her, “My blood runs through your veins.  Don’t forget that.”

“Right,” Macey said quietly, “but we can’t just go barging in there,” she remembered.  “I’m trying not to have a legal contract on me, and more likely than not, they’ll put one on me if they figure out that I helped bust her out.”

“Just use that Transparency thing that you do,” Vegeta insisted.

“I can’t just ‘just that Transparency thing that I do’,” she mimicked her father.  “There are limitations to it.”

 

**Transparency Limitations**

  1. Cannot be used at the same time with any other energy using movement (ex: gliding, color manipulation).
  2. For most assassins, it runs out after an hour.
  3. Can be seen by other assassins who are using Transparency.
  4. Does not make the user able to walk through solid objects. It’s merely used so that the normal eye does not see the user.  The user can be felt when run to, can be heard when not quiet, and can be affected by attacks.



 

Vegeta became aggravated at his daughter’s mocking tone, but decided against doing something about it. 

“Well, we can’t just let her die,” Vegeta hissed.  “Have you heard of the dragon balls?  You’ve studied Earth long enough; you should know about them.”

“Yeah, what of them?”  Macey asked.

“About a year ago when Majin Buu blew up the Earth, New Planet Phonoi most likely went with it,” Vegeta began.  “I used the dragon balls on a planet called ‘Namek’ to restore Earth and everyone who was killed by Majin Buu – and I’m assuming that meant your planet as well since they are part of each other; however, the dragon balls on Earth can’t bring someone back more than once, and since everyone on your planet technically died once, she can’t be brought back again if she dies.”

“So, that’s what that was,” Macey said quietly as she remembered her planet being blown to pieces and then reappearing.  “But anyways, I want to do this as stealthily as possible,” she continued.  “I’m trying to have a normal life alongside being an assassin, so I don’t want that compromised if we’re caught.  Besides, I like a good challenge.”

“Can’t you just change your appearance?”  Vegeta annoyingly questioned his daughter.  “Just style your hair differently, and change your hair and eye color or something and stop hiding your scar.  I bet you’d look a lot different – especially if you didn’t wear your assassin gear.”

“My face is still the same,” she scoffed.  “I can’t change what I look like.”

Feeling and sounding aggravated, Vegeta scoffed and headed towards the lab while he made Macey stay in the kitchen. 

“Here,” he said as he handed her a giant box.  “I wasn’t going to give this to you until later, but I guess now is a good as time as any.”  Curiously, Macey began opening the box.  “It was supposed to be for you to wear in battle, but I guess you could use it with your assassin gear.”

Inside the box was a blue, long-sleeve, turtle neck, spandex shirt with matching spandex pants, white gloves, white knee-high boots with gold on the top, a blue face mask, and brand new assassin gear.  There was an all-black, lightweight vest that was similar to her father’s except it was a one strapped vest, an all-black belt that was modeled like her old one, dark-gray bladed daggers with black handles much like her old ones, all-black bags and straps that attached to her arms just like the other ones, and an all-black bow and arrow set.

“Wow,” she said in shock at all the new stuff.

“The suit, gloves, mask, and boots were supposed to be used for battles, and I had Bulma make you brand new assassin gear to wear when you’re on missions, but I guess for now, you could mix them and wear the battle suit instead of your assassin suit.”

“Wow,” she repeated just as much in shock as she looked at all the brand new stuff that had just been handed to her.

“They haven’t seen me dressed in my stuff, so I doubt they’ll recognize it,” Vegeta said as he walked back up the stairs to get dressed.

These are still assassin weapons though, Macey thought as she looked at the new weapons in front of her.  They’ll work on assassinations for sure, but I’m known by the C.I.A. and the Order for using these weapons.

“Okay,” she said as she took a deep breath in.  While her father was upstairs getting dressed, she went into the bathroom, wiped the makeup off of her face so that her scar was now showing, changed her hair and eye color, tied her hair back in a different way than usual, and put the new gear on.  After realizing that she could be recognized by her weapons, Macey decided to wear the blue suit, the white gloves, the blue face mask, the white and gold boots, and the all-black vest.  However, she did stick a dagger down in her left boot behind her calf.  When she walked back out of the bathroom, she was unaware of her father standing in the hallway and ultimately caught him by surprise when he saw her.

            “What the…How did you -,” he began as he looked at her like a deer in headlights.

            “What’re you talking about?”  She asked as she continued walking.  “What’s your problem?”

“Your-Your hair,” he pointed out.

“Yeah,” she said as she grabbed her hair.  “I changed it to blonde, and if you look closely, my eyes are also yellow.  What about it?”

“Oh thank God,” he said with a sigh of relief.  “You looked like a -,”

“A Super Saiyan?”  She chuckled.  “Yeah, that was the point.”

“Why aren’t you wearing any of the new weapons?”  He asked her as he looked in the box and saw none of them on her.

“I’m known by the C.I.A. and the Order for using those weapons,” Macey explained.  “If they see those weapons, they’ll know it’s me for sure.  The whole purpose is to not get caught, remember?  Me wanting a normal life?  That whole thing?”

“Right,” he chuckled.

“By the way,” she began as the two of them headed out of the front door, “why don’t I have a vest like yours?”

“Bulma hasn’t gotten around to it yet,” Vegeta explained as Macey put her half-face mask on and leapt to the top of Capsule Corp.  “I felt like you’d be going on assassinations before battles, and I told you that you were going to wear a vest on assassinations.”

“Right,” she chuckled.  “Well, let’s hurry this up.  I have school in six hours.”


	15. Chapter 15 - Rescue Nemei

**“You can't escape an assassin.  Hangings, bumbling bureaucrats, dishonest crewman, jail - those you can talk your way out of, you try hard enough. But this kind of death is the only kind of death.” – Cassandra Rose Clarke**

 

 

 

            As Macey stood on top of the large Capsule Corp house, she began to think up a strategy to get her sister out of the interrogation room and was soon joined by her father.

            “So,” Vegeta began as he floated up next to his daughter, “what’s the plan?”

Macey, who was staring off into the distance in the direction of the C.I.A. headquarters, stayed quiet for a few seconds before answering him.

            “Not sure yet,” she replied quietly.  “Especially if you’re coming with me.  I’ll have to try a completely different strategy.”

“What do you mean, ‘especially is you’re coming with me’?”  Vegeta scoffed as he became offended by Macey’s tone.

“I’ve spent years studying the Saiyans, and I know that stealth isn’t your specialty,” Macey said as she rolled her eyes towards her father.

“Well, then you’ll be surprised to hear that I’m giving you the lead,” Vegeta said as he looked towards his daughter.

“You’re what?”  She said in shock.  She couldn’t believe that the dominant, proud man standing beside her was going to give her the lead and allow her to be the one to come up with their strategy.

“You know how I fight and how I work, but I don’t have any idea how you do things,” he began.  “I’m curious.  So, go ahead and tell me – what’re we going to do?  Unless of course you haven’t even come up with a strategy yet.”

“Wrong,” she chuckled.  “I came up with a strategy before we walked out of the doors.”

“So, walk me through it,” Vegeta ordered.

            “Alright,” Macey began.  “Listen carefully – I don’t like repeating myself.  First of all, we know that the C.I.A. headquarters is twenty-miles East of our current location.  We’ll make our way there first, obviously.  You’ll stay high – making sure to keep a watch for any assassins that might find us while also watching my back.  I’ll stick to the rooftops – making sure to turn Transparent every time I land in order to avoid security cameras, and I’ll move fast enough so that the street cameras don’t catch me while I’m gliding.  Each time I land, I’ll search the immediate area for Transparent assassins and knock them out if there is no way around them.  You are to do the same.  Do not kill any assassins that you find – most of them probably have no clue what’s going on.  Just knock them out quickly and quietly – usually hitting the GB20 pressure point hard enough works – it’s right behind the carotid artery and it stops the blood flow to the brain if it’s hit hard enough.  Once we get three miles away from the headquarters, we will meet up on the building that I stop at – I haven’t decided which one, so make sure that you keep an eye on me.  Once there, I’ll again scope the area.  Once it’s cleared, I’ll grab on to you, and you’ll fly us ten-miles North of the C.I.A. headquarters, and because I’ll be touching you, you will turn Transparent as well.  There should be a park there or some sort of open field.  Once we land – still in our Transparent state – you’ll gently and quietly blast a hole in the ground – not a hole big enough for a lake – just one that’s big enough for our bodies to fit down into.  Basically, you’ll be acting as a drill.  After breaking through, we should see the underground black site.  From there, I’ll lower a rope down so that our entry is quiet, and because it’s touching me, it will also be transparent.  After I throw it down, I’ll start climbing down first, and then you’ll go after me, and because the rope will be transparent because of me, you’ll become transparent once you make contact with it.  From there, we’ll slowly and quietly make our way through the black site until we find where Nemei is being held.  Once we find her, we will leave exactly the same way that we came.”

            “Pretty good plan,” Vegeta said with a nod, “but you left one thing out.  Where are you going to get a rope?”

“Dammit.  Come on,” Macey said under her breath as she began running and gliding towards the headquarters.

“Guess that’s my que,” Vegeta chuckled as he took high to the sky and followed his daughter who was moving faster than he thought she could.  Damn, he thought as he watched how quickly she glided to a building, turned Transparent, looked around, and then took off again.  Seven seconds, he thought with a proud smirk.  It takes her seven seconds to land on a building, scope the area out, and then continue on.  Guess I shouldn’t be surprised – after all, she’s my daughter.  As he followed Macey, the first ten minutes of the trip were completely clear and there were no assassins blocking their way, but when they got closer to the headquarters, Macey noticed two Transparent assassins keeping watch on a building that was two buildings away from her. 

Alright, she thought.  Macey motioned for her father to come down to her.  As he landed, she grabbed his wrist – thus making him Transparent and able to see the assassins.  “Got it?”  She asked quietly.

“Of course I do,” he replied with a chuckle.  As Macey waited for her father to knock out the assassins, she used Flash Rush – her custom move – to keep herself completely invisible from the assassins. 

And bam, she thought with a smirk as Vegeta quickly appeared behind the transparent assassins and knocked them out with one hit each to the pressure point that Macey told him to hit.  After seeing the assassins face plant on the ground, she continued on and was once again followed by her father.  Come on, she thought as she continued to make her way towards the headquarters.  I know there has to be one around here.  Soon enough, what Macey was looking for came into her sight.  Aha, she smirked.  Perfect distance, too.  Out of nowhere and off of the plan, Macey transparently floated down to the front of the hardware store that she had found and busted out the glass door, causing the alarm to go off.  Quickly, Macey ran over to the left wall, grabbed a large rope, ran back out as fast as she could, and began to get a good distance away from the store.  Once she was about seven blocks away from her crime scene, she floated down onto a building, undid her transparency long enough for her father to see her, and then redid it once he landed next to her.

            “What the hell was that?”  He asked her as she grabbed his wrist and made him transparent. 

            “I needed a rope, and I don’t have my lock pick on me,” she shrugged as she looped the rope around her left shoulder.  “Alright,” she continued.  “Now it’s up to you to fly us the ten-miles North of the headquarters.”

“Question,” Vegeta said as he looked at his daughter.  “Why didn’t I just fly us the whole way?”

“One – because I absolutely hate having to cling to your back,” Macey said.  “Two – because I wouldn’t have been able to take out any lookouts if there had been any aiming at us from the ground.  Three – because we both need to be Transparent when we land in the field.  And four – because I wouldn’t have been able to test you.  Besides,” she continued, “I doubt I would have found that hardware store from way up there.”

“Flying still would have been faster,” Vegeta insisted.  “We would already be at the open field.”

Macey chuckled.  “Why are there ground troops in the military if there’s also air support?”  Macey asked.  “Why not just give everyone a plane or helicopter?  Because,” she continued, “if everyone was in the sky, then there would be no one on the ground to stop fleeing enemies or enemies who are targeting the air support.  We got lucky this time though – there weren’t any assassins that were looking at the sky.  The only two that we found were out of my way – looking towards the ground, and I wasn’t able to get them without drawing attention, so I had you do it – that was your test – to see if you could to this in a stealthy manner.  Air covers ground, and ground covers air.  I prepared us for the worst scenario – hundreds of assassins on the ground.  If we both would have been in the air while the ground was covered with assassins, we would have been an easy target, and both of us would have had to fight them off which would have resulted either in wasted energy or one of our deaths.  If I had known that there wouldn’t have been any assassins in our way, then we would’ve just flown, but I didn’t know that.  I know how they keep guard over certain areas, so I know that they won’t be anywhere within a ten-mile radius of the place they are protecting – it’d be a dead giveaway, so that’s why I’m having you fly us the rest of the way.  You always say never to underestimate the Saiyans, but you should also never underestimate the Assassins.”

“Whatever,” Vegeta scoffed as he turned his head away from her.  I have to admit, she’s a genius when it comes to battle plans, he proudly thought.  She plans for every possible outcome.

“Ready?”  She said as she leapt up onto her father’s back.

“I suppose,” he sighed.  Seconds later, he took high to the sky, and as the Transparent father-daughter duo soared secretly through the cold, winter air, Macey found herself freezing again.

“And this is another reason,” she said as she began to freeze from the cold, winter air.  “It’s a lot colder up here than it is down there.”  Four minutes later, they came to the spot that Macey had designated for them to dig at.  “There it is,” she said as she pointed to the park that was ten miles North of the C.I.A. headquarters building.  Once he heard her, Vegeta landed, and Macey made sure to keep in contact so that they would both remain transparent. 

            “So, I’m just blasting a hole into the ground?”  Vegeta asked as he held an energy blast in his right hand and aimed it at the ground.

            “No,” Macey said angrily and quietly as she slapped his shoulder.  “You’re not blasting a hole into anything – I don’t want the agents to know we’re here.  Carefully and quietly just use your energy to drill a hole into the ground just big enough that we can fit through.  I’m sure you can do that.”

“I never said I couldn’t do that,” Vegeta said as he looked over to his daughter.

“So then do it, and stop trying to blow things up,” she hissed.  With a scoff and an eye roll, Vegeta slowly held the energy in his hand over the ground and used it to drill a hole through the surface.  “Would you hurry up?”  Macey asked impatiently three minutes later as she began to freeze while she watched her father make the hole in the ground.

“Make up your mind,” he snapped.  “Do you want me to do this quietly or not?” 

“I want you to hurry up and do it quietly,” she scoffed as she looked around them to make sure there were no other assassins near them.

“Eight weeks,” Vegeta hissed. 

“I really don’t care anymore,” she angrily whispered back.  “Just hurry up.”

I have to admit, Vegeta thought, this is a pretty good challenge.  I’m not use to having to restrain myself like this. After another two minutes went by, the drill-like energy that Vegeta was driving into the ground broke through a thin layer of dirt and beneath it was the compound that they were looking for.  Instantly, Macey had Vegeta step aside and she laid down on her stomach so that she could see down into the hole he had created.

“Bingo,” Macey chuckled as she looked down into the hole and saw the building that she and Nemei had been brought to.  As she looked down, her vision was limited, but she was able to see the lights outside of the building that she and Nemei had been brought to.  “Okay,” she sighed as she got up from her stomach and got back to her feet, “here’s what we’re gonna do,” she continued as she took the rope off of her shoulder and laid it down on the ground.  “The compound is roughly a hundred and forty feet underground, and the rope that I took is only twenty-feet.  Obviously, if we jump down there, we’ll make noise after landing from that height, and there could also be agents keeping watch outside who would become suspicious.  You can’t fly us down there because we can’t both fit down that hole at the same time, and you can’t fly yourself down there because then you wouldn’t be transparent, and you could blow our cover.”

“So, what’re you planning?”  Vegeta asked as Macey looked around to see what she could find to help them get down there transparently and quietly.

Dammit, she thought as she looked at the twenty-foot long rope on the ground.  I should have grabbed six of them at least.  “Just give me a minute,” she said quietly as she looked at the park around her.  All I have on me is a dagger and a rope, she reminded herself.  Somehow, I’ve got to add a hundred and twenty feet to this rope.  “Is that hole the same width the whole way down?”  She asked as she continued to look around.

“It should be,” Vegeta told her.  “I made it big enough to fit my body because I’m bigger than you are.”

“I think I might have an idea,” she said as she pulled her father with her towards the playground, “and if it doesn’t work then we’ll both die anyway.”  Without replying to her, Vegeta walked with his daughter, and they came up on the merry-go-round in the center of the park.  “Can you cut off the top, curved part of this handle and sharpen the ends?”  She asked as she pointed to the silver handle.

“I guess,” Vegeta shrugged.  With his hands, he grabbed the part of the merry-go-round that she had pointed out and pulled it off of the main surface. 

“Was that really necessary?”  Macey hissed at him.  “All you had to do was saw that top part off.”

“I am,” he answered as he gathered energy in his hand and did what he did earlier to the ground, but instead, he did it to the handle that he ripped off.  “You just want that top, curved part?”  He asked, making sure that Macey was sure of the part that she wanted.

“Yes,” she confirmed.  Vegeta cut the top, curved part off for her – making sure that the ends were sharp, and with her left hand, the hand that wasn’t connecting her to her father, Macey grabbed it from him and went to head back, but she was pulled back when Vegeta didn’t move.  “What’re you doing?”  She asked in confusion.  “Come on, let’s get going.”

“You don’t have any type of weapon, and you don’t know any energy blasts,” he reminded her.  “I’m pretty sure that sharp pieces of a steel rod might inflict some damage.”

“I have my dagger in my boot,” she told him.  “I’ll be fine, now come on,” she insisted.  “Let’s go.”

“Here,” he said as he handed her two, six inch, steel rods with sharp ends that he had cut off, “take those.”

“Fine,” she scoffed as she shoved them down into the back of her right boot.  “Now can we go?”  After Vegeta agreed, the two of them made their way back over to the hole, and without saying a word, Macey had her father stay connected to her by touching her back, and now, with her two free hands, she tied the rope around the center of the curved, steel rod that Vegeta had cut for her.  After she finished tying the tight knot around the center of the rod, she took a deep breath in and looked up at Vegeta.  “Dad,” she said quietly and seriously, “I’m trusting you with my life,” she said as she handed the rod to him.  “If that rod slips, or you don’t secure it right, I will fall a hundred feet to my death.  There will be nothing on the way down for me to push off of, so I won’t be able to glide or land properly because I’ll be falling so quickly.  I’ve already died once, so I can’t be wished back again, so please, don’t let it happen again.”

“What do you want me to do?”  Vegeta asked as he looked back at her. 

“Come here,” she said as she picked up the other end of the rope and walked over to the hole.  “First, make sure it fits in the hole,” she instructed him, and without argument, Vegeta laid the rod over the hole in the ground that he created.

“It’s good,” he said as he told her that the rod was long enough to cover the hole.

“Okay,” she sighed.  “I’m going to jump down there first,” she began.  “Because I know you can hold my weight with no problem, you’re going to hold onto that rod while I’m going down.  Once I get as far as I can, you’re going to come in, and you’re going to use the rod to make your way down – just make sure that you’re in contact with the rope so that you stay transparent.  It would be easiest if you held onto the curved part of the rod with your hands and wrapped your legs around the rope.  Every time you move down, you’re going to take the sharp ends of the rod and make sure you drive them into the dirt on either side of you so that it holds.  The further you can move down at a time, the faster we’ll make it to the bottom – just make sure it’s secure because if it comes undone then I’ll plummet to the ground.”

“Question,” Vegeta cut in.  “Why don’t I just hold the rope and float us down there?  It’d be a lot quicker.”

“No,” she answered.  “Some Assassins have an ability to sense energy that’s not of their own species if it’s big enough, so if there are those types of assassins down there, they might sense you coming the closer we get.  That’s another reason why I didn’t want you blasting a hole into the ground – subtlety is everything, and I’m sure they’d sense the energy you would use to float us down there.  I didn’t worry about it while on the way here because I was scouting the area every time I landed, but I can’t see all the way down there because I can’t see through the dirt walls,” she explained to him.  “Kaiser is one of the Assassins with that ability.  Besides,” she continued, “you gave me the lead, remember?  And I do things like an assassin.”

“I got it,” Vegeta assured her.  This should prove to be a new challenge, he excitedly thought.

Without much thought, Macey walked backwards towards the hole and immediately jumped down it as her father held the steel rod part.  Slowly, she scaled her way down the hole, and once she got as far as she could and noticed that the rope was completely stretched out, she signaled for Vegeta to make his way down.  Alright, he thought as he jumped down the hole and quickly secured the sharp ends of the steel bar on either side of him in the dirt that was acting as the walls.  Now to move it down.  Slowly, he took one side of the bar at a time and move it down and secured it, and then repeated the same action with the other side.  However, they were only able to move a foot at a time.  Before long, the ground became closer to her, and Macey was barely out of the hole that Vegeta had created and hung on the rope forty feet above the compound while her father was still hidden twenty-feet up inside the dirt tunnel.  As she came out of the hole, she signaled for him to stop so she could take a look around.

            Alright, she thought, now that I can see the entire compound, I should be able to make a path for us to get in unnoticed.  She looked to the right and saw the dark road that ran from the C.I.A. headquarters’ garage to the small parking lot of the underground compound.  To the left, was the one building that was the black site.  The building itself was made of stone and had no windows anywhere on it except for the one door leading in and out.  However, through the small window, she could see that there was a light on.  On the top of the building, there were two agents standing guard on either side with assault rifles.  Not good.  I don’t care what species you are, those’ll surely kill you, she told herself as she noted the large weapons in their hands.  Certainly, they’ll hear us getting in.  I need to at least knock them out, but how?  “Dad,” she whispered as she began to make her way back up the twenty-foot long rope and towards her father.  “There are two agents standing on top of the building with assault rifles,” she quietly began, “and I’m sure they’ll hear us whenever we try to make entry.  I’m going to go in alone and take them out – they might not hear one of us drop, but they’ll hear both of us, and I weigh less than you, so I’ll make less noise.  I want you to keep moving us down.  There’s about forty feet between the exit and the ground, so once the both of us come out of the hole, there should be about a twenty-foot distance between the ground and me.  Once we’re out of the hole, slowly float us down, and once I’m on the ground, leave the rope hanging down, float back up into the hole so that you’re out of sight, and wait for me to tell you to come down.  I don’t see any Assassins anywhere, so they shouldn’t be able to sense your energy.”

“How are you going to take out two people without getting caught?”  Vegeta asked her.

“I have a plan,” she said. “I’ve already set the trap.”

“Whatever you say,” Vegeta casually replied as Macey slid back down the rope and gave the go-ahead for her father to keep moving them.  Once Macey reached the ground, still in her transparent state, she gave the signal for her father to stop.

            Alright, she thought as she stood light-footedly on the dirty, rocky ground, still holding the rope so that it remained transparent.  Timing, stealth, and speed is everything in this, she said as she watched the two guards.  I only have one shot to get this, and if I fail, both my father and me will be caught, and Nemei will most likely be executed on the spot.  Alright, time to stop stalling – I’ll run out of energy to keep my Transparency.  With a deep breath, she let go of the rope and quick and quietly made her way to the back of the building and lied in wait. 

            “Hey,” one of the guards said to the other as the rope became visible, “what’s going on over there?”  He asked as he aimed his gun towards the rope.  “Someone’s drilled a hole through the ground!”  He yelled.  With the other guard’s attention turned to the one running towards the rope Macey knew her chance was now.

Now, Macey thought.  Quickly and quietly, she leapt up the top of the building and behind the one guard that was left on the building.  When she landed behind him, she caught him by surprise when she kicked his gun out of his hands, pulled him down to the ground, and got her arms around his neck in a rear-naked choke.  Seven seconds, she told herself as he struggled to breathe and fight her off.  Four, three, two, one, she counted down.  And he’s out.  She got herself up off the ground and ran towards the other guard who had walked towards the rope hanging from the hole, and as he was about to look up the hole to see Vegeta, Macey – who’s Transparency had come undone, quickly pounced on him and took him out in the same style as the other guard.  “You can come down now,” she told her father as she got out from underneath the guard she had knocked out.

            “Took you long enough,” he scoffed as he slid down the rope and landed on the ground.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” she said, sounding short of breath.  “I lost my Transparency.”

“You shouldn’t have used it so much,” Vegeta told her as he watched her try to catch her breath. 

“No,” she shook her head, “I just need to learn how to use it longer.  I need to get better control over my energy.”  This might come in handy, she thought as she bent down and picked up the assault rifle that the guard had dropped on the ground when Macey attacked him.

“An assault rifle?”  Vegeta chuckled as Macey put the gun’s strap over her arm.  “What happened to not drawing any attention?”

“Yeah, well if we get ambushed by assassins, I’ll at least have a weapon,” she told him as she bent down and searched the knocked out guard’s pockets.  “Come on,” she grunted to herself, “I know you have a key somewhere.”

“What’re you looking for?”  Vegeta asked as he looked around them to make sure there was no one else coming their way. 

“A key or something,” she replied.  “I have to find a way to get inside, and the front door is keycard only – maybe the other guy has one.”

“I’ll go check,” Vegeta said as he walked over towards the building where Macey had left the other guard.

Hm, she thought as she looked at the guard’s identification.  Mister Nariyori Atagi.  Why do you look familiar?  She wondered as she looked at the picture.  And no key, she concluded as she finished searching through his wallet.  “Here you go,” she said as she placed the still completely full wallet back in his pocket.

“Nothing,” Vegeta said as he walked back over to his daughter who was starting to stand on her feet again.

“Damn,” she whispered, “guess we’ll have to find another way in.  Follow me, and be quiet,” she ordered him.  “I can’t turn us transparent again for a while.”  There must be one in the back, she thought as they quickly and quietly made their way to the back of the building.

“What’re you looking for?”  Vegeta asked as he watched Macey look around the building.

“And air duct,” she answered.  “Because of the lights, I know they have electricity, and because these walls are made of stone and we’re a hundred feet underground, they’d be burning up inside, but the room that I was held in was freezing, so they must have an air duct that has air conditioning running through it somewhere.  Up there,” she said as she pointed out a small, rectangular shaped, metal gate that covered a hole in the wall.  “Can you float me up to it?”

Without replying, Vegeta grabbed her and slowly floated her up to the gate.  “You think you can fit through that?”  He asked as they looked in it. 

“Should be able to,” she replied. 

“Yeah, but I don’t think I will,” Vegeta concluded as she carefully removed the metal covering.  “I’m a lot bigger than you are.  I’m still down for just blowing the place up.”

“How many times do I have to tell you?”  She angrily answered.  “Not only would we blow our cover, but Nemei would also probably die in the explosion.  Do you really want to kill your own daughter?”

Dammit, she’s right, Vegeta thought.

“Okay, I’m going in,” Macey said as she reached her arms into the air duct and pulled herself in, using her elbows to pull her body that was made to stay straight inside the duct.  “You’re right,” she whispered as she looked back towards her father.  “I barely have room to move in here, you’re not going to be able to fit.  Put that cover back on, go back up into the hole, and stay there until I come get you, and don’t do anything stupid.”  The air is on, she told herself as she became cold again, they won’t be able to hear every single noise I make.  With a nod of understanding, Vegeta put the cover to the air duct back on and quietly made his way back to the hole and floated there while he waited for his daughter to come back. 

            I have to admit, Vegeta thought as he floated with his arms crossed, she’s got guts, brains, and she isn’t afraid to order people around.  Sounds familiar, he smirked.  Meanwhile, as Macey pulled herself through the air duct, she stopped and peeked at all the rooms that she went by to see if she could learn anything valuable from the agents that worked there. 

There shouldn’t be too many of them here, she told herself.  It’s a black site, after all.  It’s not supposed to be well known.  After pulling herself in many different directions for about five minutes, she came across another room and when she peeked through the gate to look into the room, she found an agent, but where she found him was not where she wanted to be.  Just great, she thought sarcastically as she saw the agent on the toilet and reading a newspaper.  First a sex shop and now a bathroom?  Why is it always me?  I’ve got to get his keycard without him noticing me.  If I jump down, he’ll obviously see me.  I should really get Bulma to make me a knockout drug or something.  Damn.  Come on, Macey – think.  Distraction, she decided.  It looks like the pipes that run throughout the bathroom are steel, she noticed.  My dad may have been right in getting me those extra steel bars.  I bet if one “accidentally” fell, he’d go and inspect it.  After deciding what she was going to do, she rolled over to her left side and pulled one of the steel bars out of her right boot.  Alright, she thought as she rolled back onto her stomach, please work.  Quickly, she threw the pipe to the other side of the bathroom through the gate in the hopes that the Agent would get up and go to inspect it; however, after a few seconds passed, the agent didn’t move from his spot – in fact, he didn’t even look up from the newspaper on his lap.  The hell?  She thought as she watched him sitting completely still.  Is he sleeping?  “Psst,” she hissed out of the gate, trying to see if he was sleeping or not, and again, he didn’t move a muscle.  This is strange, she told herself.  Screw it, I don’t have time to waste, she decided as she opened up the cover and jumped down into the bathroom, and as she landed, the agent didn’t move once again.  “Hey,” she said quietly as she walked up to him.  There’s something wrong here, she concluded when he didn’t look up from the paper.  “Hey man, are you alright?”  She asked as she got closer to the agent still sitting on the toilet and looking down at the newspaper, and again, he didn’t look up.  “Hey, what’s wrong with – Oh my God!”  She said in shock as she jumped backwards after she went to make eye contact with the agent.  “Oh my God,” she whispered as she slowly and carefully walked back up to him.  The agent, who had been ignoring Macey wasn’t sleeping, but he had been murdered.  Although there was no blood, she could easily see that his throat had been slit and his eyes had been cut out, and all that remained were black holes.  I really hope he was dead before his eyes got cut out, she thought as she began to search the dead agent.  There’s no blood here, so clearly he was killed somewhere else and posed here.  “Sorry man,” she said quietly, “but I really need your keycard.  I promise, I’ll find whoever did this to you.”  How has he not been found?  She asked herself as she pulled the keycard out of his pocket.  Out of curiosity and on a hunch, Macey walked over to the locked bathroom door, unlocked it, and peeked her head outside into the hallway.  “Oh my God,” she gasped.  “It’s a massacre.”  Laying all over the floor in the hallway, and covered in blood, were the C.I.A. agents from the black site, and all of them had been brutally murdered and had their eyes taken from them.  This is terrible, she thought as fear overcame her and tears filled her eyes.  How could anyone be so evil?  This had to have been recent.  My father and I were here less than a day ago, and all of these agents were perfectly fine. “Nemei,” Macey quickly said to herself as she continued to process the scene in front of her.  In a hurry, she ran back to the air duct and pulled herself up into it, and as she hurried her way down the ducts with no fear of being caught by any of the agents, deep down, all she wanted to do was get to her father.  Taking less time to get out than it did for her to get in, she jumped down at the exit and quickly made her way over to the hole that her father had been hiding in.  “Come on,” she said frantically.  Immediately, Vegeta floated down from his hiding spot and could tell right away that Macey was shaken up and upset by something.

            “What’s wrong?”  He asked as they hurried their way towards the front door.  “What happened?”

            “They’re all dead,” she said as she struggled to hold back her tears and trauma.  “All of them.  Dead and mutilated.”

“They’re what?”  He asked in disbelief as Macey swiped the keycard and opened up the front door.

“You’ll see,” she said in anger and pain as the door opened.  Lying in front of them in the front hallway was another collection of murdered C.I.A. agents that had also been mutilated.  “There’s another hallway,” she whispered as she shook her head at the sight in front of her. 

“What the hell is going on?”  Vegeta said in shock as he looked at the dead agents.

“Someone is a sick individual,” Macey replied in disgust as they made their way through the hallways trying to find the interrogation room.  As they slowly made their way around the dead bodies lining the hallway, Macey’s breath escaped her when she felt someone grab her by the leg.

            “You need to get out of here,” one of the agents who was lying on the floor almost dead said with his last breath as Macey looked down at him.

“Oh my God, his hand is still around my ankle,” she said as the now dead agent’s hand was still wrapped around her ankle.  Immediately, Vegeta bent down and pried the corpse’s hand off of his daughter’s ankle.  “Thank you,” she said quietly as they continued to make their way down.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?”  Vegeta asked Macey as she took the assault rifle off of her back and kept it aimed while they made their way down the hallways and carefully looked inside each room.

“No,” she replied.  “Never.  I’ve killed people – I’ll admit that, but never this brutally, and it was only when I was fighting for my life in the park,” she confessed.  “Have you?”  She asked.

“Yes,” Vegeta answered casually.

“I don’t want to know if you were the causer or the witness,” she said quietly.

“I wouldn’t tell you which one anyways,” he replied immediately. 

How far away can this damn interrogation room be?  Macey angrily asked herself as she became more frightened and angrier as more bodies started to show down each hallway.  “It has to be this way,” she said through her teeth as they made their way down the last hallway that they had yet to check.  As they looked in each window of every door they passed, there appeared to be nothing but offices, and Macey’s hope began to fade as they neared the end.

“Hey,” Vegeta said as he stopped at one of the doors, “right here.”  Quickly, Macey walked up to the door and looked inside to see what her father was looking at – her older twin sister, Nemei, sitting with her back towards the door, shackled by the legs to a chair, her hands handcuffed behind her back, and her head hanging down low.  On the floor, her blood surrounded the chair that she was chained to.  To her right, was a medical cart filled with different kinds of tools, and to the walls that surrounded her were dark, gray stone. 

“Oh my God,” Macey whispered as she looked at her sister, “they’re torturing her.  I have to go get her,” Macey said as she went to try to open the door, but her hand was caught by her father.

“If you go in there now, then they’ll kill her,” he said quietly.  “Look at the wall on the right,” he said as he pointed at a steel grate on the wall.  “Go back into the air duct and find your way to this room,” he instructed her.  “I’ll stay here.”

“Got it,” she said without argument.  Quickly, she made her way through the hallways of the dead agents and tried not to look at them as she entered the bathroom again and jumped up into the air duct.  Okay, Macey, she thought as she tried to figure out which way to go.  No, it’s time to be Dea Tacita the assassin, not Macey Evans the teenager.  I need to head right, she decided.  I’m facing South, and that room is on the North West side of the building.  I swear I’ll make them pay with their blood, she thought angrily as she quickly and quietly made her way towards the room where her sister was being held, and as she grew closer, she heard muffled voices yelling.  That sounds like a man’s voice, she thought, and a…woman’s?  No, that’s just Nemei replying. 

            “Kill her,” Macey heard the woman say as she got closer to the room.  “Just hurry up and kill her,” she ordered.  While Macey looked into the horrific room, she noted that she was unable to see her father on the other side of the door. 

            “No,” the man’s voice snapped.  “Not yet, at least.”

You narcissistic, lying, sick, evil, manipulative son of a bitch, Macey thought as anger engulfed her body at the sight of her older brother walking towards Nemei with a knife in his hand from the front right corner of the room which was also a blind spot.  Nemei, who looked almost like a different person due to her ratted, blood-filled hair, her torn up, white scrubs that had been given to her to wear, and the cuts that filled her face, looked completely content and as hard as a stone.  I swear, the moment I get my hands on you, you’re dead, and I promise, it won’t be a quick death – which you will be begging for.

“So, tell me Nemei,” Kaiser continued as he ran the sharp edge of the knife along Nemei’s cheek, causing a cut to form, “how much have you figured out?”  Instead of replying, Nemei spit out the blood that had accumulated in her mouth from being beaten up so much, and as it hit Kaiser in the face, he landed a hard left hook on the right side of her face. 

“That’s enough!”  The woman ordered.  “Just kill her now and get it over with so that we can move on to Dea!”

Who is she?  Macey curiously wondered as she tried to figure out who the woman was.  I feel like I’ve seen her before.  The woman who was standing next to Kaiser had long, red hair and red matching red eyes.  It’s rare for an Assassin to have matching color hair and eyes unless it’s black or brown, Macey reminded herself.  It must be a color manipulation, so that must mean she’s an Assassin too.

“No!”  Kaiser snapped back, causing the woman to jump.  “I will once I’ve gotten everything out of her,” he continued.  “So, Nemei,” he said as he turned his attention back to Nemei and held her face tightly so that she couldn’t spit at him again.  “I’ll ask you once more – how much have you figured out?”

Figured out?  Macey asked herself.  That must mean Kaiser knows more than he lets on, or he wants to know more, but with his track record so far, I’d say he knows more than he lets on.  As Macey continued to scan the room, she found a table in the front left corner next to the door that was covered in what appeared to be old documents.  Huh, I wonder what all that is, she wondered.  Alright dad, now would be the perfect time for you to make your unsubtle entrance. 

            I can’t just barge in there, Vegeta thought as he watched the horrible scene unfold through the corner of the window in the door.  If I do, they’re sure to kill her.  I could never forgive myself if something happens to her.  Dammit.  Come on Mace, think of something.

            Kaiser’s the only one with a weapon that I can see; however, that woman may have one as well hidden somewhere, Macey began to plan.  I would distract them, but I doubt they’d fall for it.  Should I really risk just barging in?  Or perhaps, I could draw their attention towards me, and my father could barge in while they’re focused on me, but that would be putting a lot of trust in him to know what to do – I don’t have time to run back down to him and tell him the plan.

“You’ve been digging too much, Nemei,” Kaiser said in a menacing tone as he walked back over towards the medical cart.  “Here,” he said as he loaded a single bullet into a revolver, closed it, and spun it, “I’ll give you one more chance to tell me what you’ve found out.  That’s all I want to know.” 

There’s a one in six chance that she’ll get hit with the bullet, Macey frantically thought.  However, I know that each time a revolver spins, it clicks at each chamber, and I heard eight clicks before it stopped.  That means that it was spun around one time completely, the chamber with the bullet was passed once, and it stopped at the second one after, so if he goes in order, the fourth pull will be the fatal one.  Like before, Nemei refused to answer Kaiser who was holding the revolver to her head right in between her eyes.  Instead, she spat at him again which resulted in him pulling the trigger to the gun.  One, Macey thought as the blank shot fired, and she watched Nemei – who she didn’t seem fazed.

“Really, Nemei?”  Kaiser chuckled with a sadistic grin on his face.  “Is all of this really worth your life?”  And again, Nemei responded by spitting more blood at him. 

Two, Macey said to herself as yet another blank shot fired.  Dad, I really hope we’re on the same page.

“What is it going to take to get you to tell me what you know?!”  Kaiser angrily yelled as he stomped down on Nemei’s bare, right foot with his left boot.  “Tell me!”  He ordered.  “Tell me what you’ve found out!  Now!”  And yet again, she seemed unfazed by everything that was happening to her, and once again, she replied with her blood-filled spit, and just as Kaiser was going to pull the trigger for the third time, Macey quickly jumped down into the room from the air duct, and at the same time, Vegeta busted in through the door to the room – catching everyone by surprise except for Nemei.  As Macey jumped in front of Kaiser, she landed so close to him and so strongly, that it forced him to be pushed back towards the wall.  “Stupid little sister,” he chuckled as he held the gun up to Macey’s head and pulled the trigger; however, all that fired was a blank.

            “Nice try,” she said angrily through her teeth as she snatched the gun out of his right hand and aimed it at him while he was still up against the wall.  “How much do you wanna bet that the next shot is the one with the bullet in it?”  She asked him.  The woman who was with Kaiser, found herself backed into the back right corner by the fuming Saiyan father.

“Kill her,” Macey ordered angrily.  “Now.  Don’t let her speak.”

“Oh wow,” Kaiser chuckled as he remained pinned to the wall, “it seems that the Saiyans have rubbed off on you, little sister.”

“Do not call me that,” she ordered him. 

            “Yes,” the woman said with a laugh in Vegeta’s face.  “Kill me!  Kill me once again!”

            “What the hell are you talking about?”  He demanded to know.  “What do you mean, ‘again’?”

“Stupid Saiyan monkey,” Kaiser laughed.  “You can’t even recognize the woman you murdered seventeen years ago.”

“What are you talking about?”  Macey demanded to know as she held the gun closer to Kaiser’s forehead. 

“Mother, you can change your color manipulation back now,” Kaiser said in a kind tone.  Doing as he told her, the woman changed her color manipulation and her hair returned to its natural light brown color, and her eyes returned to their bright green color.

“Who is she?!”  Macey demanded to know as she looked at the familiar woman.  “Tell me!  Who is she?!”

“Oh, Dea,” the woman said with a chuckle, “what kind of daughter doesn’t recognize her own mother?”

“You’re not my mother,” Macey said as she shook her head.  “My mother’s dead.”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” she countered.  “Your mother is very much alive, and she’s about to be killed by the same man that killed her once before.”

“How are you alive?”  Vegeta angrily demanded to know.  “I blasted your body with an energy blast.”

            “Dea knows,” Nemei said in a tired tone with a chuckle.

“I do?”  Macey replied as she tried to figure out what Nemei was talking about.

“I told you,” Nemei reminded her.  “I told you about him.”

Told me about him?  Macey wondered.  Told me about whom? Wait a second, ‘Arikane Mors is not the man you think he is’, Macey remembered.  “Arikane Mors had something to do with this,” Macey concluded.

“Now, how could you possibly know a thing like that?”  Kaiser asked condescendingly, directing the question to the two twins.

“It’s rude to call your father by his full name, Dea,” Ina replied.  “I thought Kaiser would have taught you that.”

“That man is not my father,” Macey said angrily as she shot a cold glare through her mother.  “No part of him is in me.”

“You were ordering him to kill your own daughter,” Vegeta hissed at Ina.  “My daughter.”

“Would you just hurry up and kill her already?!”  Macey yelled at her father who seemed to want to talk more than kill.

“Shut your mouth!”  He yelled back at Macey.  “How could you call yourself their mother after what you were doing?”  He asked as he turned his attention back to the mother of his daughters. 

“Simple,” she smiled.  “Because they have my DNA.”

“Unfortunately,” Vegeta replied coldly.

            As Macey continued to hold Kaiser against the wall with the gun to his head, it took all of her strength to pull the trigger. 

            “A quick death is too good for you,” she told him.  “You deserve all the pain that gets inflicted upon you.”

            Kaiser chuckled.  “And I assume you’re going to be the one to inflict that pain?”

“You’re damn right I am,” she said with a smile as she unloaded the bullet from the gun, threw it on the ground, and pulled the sharp, steel rod out of her right boot and drove it through Kaiser’s left boot and foot – the one he had stepped on Nemei’s barefoot with, and it successfully pinned his foot to the ground.  As he let out a blood curling scream, everyone – even Nemei’s attention, was drawn towards the scene.  “Now,” she began and she stood back and crossed her arms, “you’re going to tell me everything that I want to know.”

 

 

**Part 2 – 112 BC**

 

In the interrogation room that had been turned into a torture chamber by Kaiser and his mother, Vegeta had the mother of his daughters cornered in the back right corner, Macey had Kaiser stuck to the floor by the sharp, steel rod that she had shoved through his left boot and foot, and Nemei was still sitting in the chair trying to regain some of her strength.

“Oh am I?”  Kaiser asked with a painful smile as he tried to free his foot, but Macey stopped him when she put more pressure on the steel rod with her left foot – causing him to let out another scream.

“Yes,” she replied, “you are.”

“And why would I do a silly thing like that?”  Kaiser asked as he watched his blood flow from out of his foot and onto the floor.  “You and I both know that you aren’t going to kill me,” he chuckled.

“You and I both know that Macey Evans wouldn’t kill you,” Macey corrected him, “but as of right now, Macey Evans – the teenager trying to have a normal life doesn’t exist.  Right now, Dea Tacita – half Saiyan, half Assassin stands in front of you, and I can assure you that she’s not the person you want to piss off.”

 

 

**“Vengeance is in my heart; death is in my hand.  Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.” – William Shakespeare**

 

Damn, Vegeta thought as he heard the anger filled words come out of his daughter’s mouth. I didn’t think she had this in her.

            “This isn’t like you, Dea,” Kaiser stated as he continued to try to get free.  “You’re not one to inflict torture on someone.”

            “I’m an avenger,” she replied as she angrily glared at him.  “I get justice for those that have been harmed, and I decide whether or not my punishment fits the crime.  There’s an entire building full of dead, innocent agents out there, and if I had to take a wild guess at who’s responsible for it, I’d say you are.”

“They weren’t innocent,” Kaiser painfully replied as he laid his head back against the wall.

“How so?”  Macey asked angrily.  “They seemed like normal people working a normal job.”

“They weren’t,” he insisted.  “They were all guilty.  If you can judge who’s guilty and who’s innocent, then why can’t I?”

“Yes,” Macey chuckled.  “Guilty people.  You wanna know who’s really guilty?  Agent Sanenori Manabe.  Yes, the man that I found in the bathroom with his throat slit and his eyes cut out of his head.  You wanna know what he’s guilty of?  Having a wife, two sons, and a daughter.  I found their family Holiday picture in his wallet, so yes, you’re right, oh so guilty!”  She yelled angrily as she applied more pressure on the steel rod.  “And the people that I kill, are guilty – guilty to the point that there’s no argument.”

            “Dea,” Nemei said quietly, “just kill him.  I can tell you everything you want to know – the truth, not the lies that he’ll tell.”

“There are some things you can’t tell me,” Macey replied to her sister.  “For instance, why did you tell Vegeta that he’s my father?”  She asked as she turned her attention back to Kaiser.  “You’re not leaving this room alive, and you’re not dying until I kill you, so you might as well go ahead and start spilling it.”

“You weren’t supposed to live,” he chuckled.  “I wanted him to feel the pain of seeing his dead daughter just as my grandfather saw his dead daughter.”

“But when Goku rescued me, you realized that your little ambush didn’t work,” Macey concluded.  “Why were you trying to pit Nemei and me against each other?  Clearly, you sent her after me in the ambush, and then when she failed, you gave me a contract that wasn’t even written by you to execute her.”

“Because you’re both filthy Saiyans,” he said as he spat at Macey.  “My father’s wish was for all the Saiyans to die, and if you’re going to refuse to carry that out, then it’s up to me to do it.”

“And the reason you gave me that training mission was so that you could see how I fight and work, so if you ended up having to kill me, you’d know exactly what to expect,” Macey concluded.  “Who wrote the training mission contract, and the contract to kill Nemei?”  She asked.  “I know it wasn’t your handwriting, and they were both signed ‘Anonymous’.  Also, I’m pretty sure if I were to look at them side by side, the handwriting would be identical.”

“That, I won’t tell you,” he answered.  “Now, if you’re going to kill me, then kill me.”

“Alright fine,” she said as she applied more pressure on the steel rod.  “Who killed Pax?”  Macey asked quietly.

“I can’t answer that,” Kaiser replied, and again, Macey applied more pressure.

“Did you force Pax to write the contract on me that the rookie assassin had?”  She asked him, and he found it harder to fight the pain.

“Yes,” he answered quickly and angrily.

“And when she wrote it, you made a copy to use as blackmail,” Macey began to explain.  “Then, when the rookie failed, you did God knows what with his body, turned the copy of the contract in to Queen Enyo, thus putting a contract on Pax, which resulted in her death.  So, you even tried to get my best friend to have me killed before you decided to take matters into your own hands.”  At the sound of Macey figuring everything out, Kaiser began to laugh uncontrollably despite the pain he was in, and the sound of the laughter soon turned into screams as Macey applied more pressure due to her annoyance of him finding humor in the situation. 

“You’re about to die,” she reminded him, “I don’t see what’s so funny.”

“You are,” he chuckled.  “Picking revenge over your own family.  Here you are about to murder your own brother, and you’re about to let that dirty, murderous Saiyan over there kill our mother.  Again!”

“You’re one to talk,” she scoffed.  “Look at what you did to our sister,” she said through her teeth as she grabbed Kaiser’s long, black hair and forced him to look at Nemei who was still trying to rest as much as she could.  “Look at what you did to me,” she said angrily as she pulled his head back around to look at her.  “Do you realize all that you’ve put me through since I was born?!”

“I don’t consider anyone who has the genes of the filthy Saiyans part of my family,” he replied.  “As far as I’m concerned, I’m doing what my father wanted you do to – what he created you do to.”

“You’ve killed and hurt more innocent people than I have killed guilty people,” she said in disbelief.  “Growing up, I looked up to you,” she admitted.  “I thought you were the best brother and person in the entire world.  I mean, you raised me since you were six years old, but little did I know, this whole time, you’ve been plotting against me.”

“I tried to warn you,” he said in a condescending tone.  “I warned you what would happen if you sided with the disgusting Saiyan monkeys.”  Overcome with anger, Macey took her foot off of the steel rod, grabbed Kaiser by his hair, and slammed him to the ground – causing the rod to tear through his foot which resulted in another blood curling scream.

“Let me tell you something,” she said in a disgusted tone as she placed her foot and pressure on his chest.  “You can call the Saiyans all the names you want, but you will never be better or even in the same league as they are – especially my father.  You’ll never be the man that he’s become.  Maybe long ago, he was heartless, only cared for himself, and destroyed anyone and anything that got in his way, but now I’m starting to see how that profile fits you better, and I’m starting to see the man beneath my father’s hard exterior.  You don’t know my father or any of the other Saiyans like I do, but I can assure you that you never will.  His blood runs through my veins, so if you insult him, you’re insulting me.  And honestly, he’s been more of a father to me in the past few days than you ever were in the fifteen years that I’ve known you.  How sad is it that the “horrible, murderous, dirty Saiyan” turned out to be a better man than you?  I know that my father would never hurt his own family – in fact, I know that he’d protect them even if it meant sacrificing himself, and here you are hurting yours. You’ve been hurting your family since the day Nemei and I were born.  So, you’re wrong.  I’m not choosing revenge over my family – I’m choosing to avenge my family that you’ve done nothing but inflict horrible physical and mental pain upon for absolutely no reason and insult when you have no idea who they or how far they’ve come.  And also, for my best friend that was senselessly murdered and all of the other innocent people that were mercilessly slaughtered and then mutilated by the horrible, murderous, dirty Assassin.”  Without giving him any time to say anything, Macey reached down into her left boot and pulled her dagger out.  And still, with the sadistic grin on Kaiser’s face, Macey took her dagger and drove it through his Suprasternal Notch – the space in between the neck and collar bone.  The action caught everyone by surprise and they all watched as Kaiser flopped around on the ground trying to get air.  “Yeah, I blocked the air from getting into your esophagus,” she said as she walked over to Nemei.  “Have fun.”

            “My son,” Ina began as her eyes filled with tears and her heart sank to her feet while she watched Kaiser take his last breath.  “How could you kill my son?!”  She cried out as she watched Macey start to take the shackles off of Nemei.

            “How could you harm your own daughter?!”  Vegeta yelled at her.  “How could you try to get him to kill her?!”

“She is not my daughter,” Ina snapped at him, “neither of them are.  I disown any Saiyan monkey brats.”

“That’s not what you were saying seventeen years ago, now was it?”  Vegeta said quietly as he reminded her of the night they had.

“That was until you killed me,” she hissed.

            “I knew you’d come,” Nemei said with a smile as Macey undid the last of her shackles.

            “Oh, did you?”  Macey chuckled.

“Thank you,” she whispered.  “I wasn’t expecting to get out of here alive.  I was ready to die with my knowledge.”

“I couldn’t let that happen,” Macey said as she threw Nemei’s right arm around her shoulders and wrapped her left arm around her body, “and neither could he,” she quietly added as they watched Vegeta and Ina.  Wow, Macey thought, my real mom and my real dad.  I wish my mother wasn’t such a horrible person.  “How many people have you killed?”  Macey asked her mother.

“None,” she answered angrily.

“None?”  Macey scoffed.  “So you just have others do it for you?  Let me rephrase.  How many people would you kill if given the chance?”

“Dea, what are you doing?”  Nemei questioned her sister.

“Every being with Saiyan DNA will be exterminated,” Ina angrily replied.  “Including you two brats.”  Hearing the words coming from their biological mother’s mouth nearly destroyed both Macey and Nemei.

“You’re our mother,” Macey said in disbelief.  “We’re half of you.”

“And as long as you’re half of him, then I want nothing to do with either of you,” she said in disgust.  “Kaiser was right about all three of you,” she continued as she turned back to Vegeta, “you’re nothing but dirty, Saiyan monkeys, and I’m telling you now that if you don’t kill me here and now, then those two little, filthy half-breeds will be killed.”

“We haven’t done anything to you!”  Macey argued.  “You’re our mother!  A mother is supposed to protect her children!”

“You are not my children,” Ina chuckled.  “My children wouldn’t carry this disgusting Saiyan’s DNA.”

“Well, at least this disgusting Saiyan didn’t disown his own children,” Vegeta said as he formed an energy blast in his right hand.  Without another word, Vegeta held the energy blast up to Ina Tacita’s body, and once again, just like seventeen-years prior, her body was blasted and her life was taken away.  “Let’s get the hell out of here,” Vegeta said – sounding disgusted and hate-filled.  As he made a bee-line for the door that he had busted down, Macey and Nemei watched him, and it was easy for them to see that he was angry; however, what they couldn’t see were the tears that he was trying to hold back.

            “Hang on a second,” Nemei said, stopping Vegeta from walking out of the door. 

“What is it?”  He asked as he turned around to see Macey helping Nemei walk.  “I’m ready to blow up this place and go home.”

“No,” Nemei snapped, “I won’t let you blow it up.”

“He’s right,” Macey said, siding with her father.  “The only reason we didn’t blow it up to begin with was so that you nor any other innocent people were hurt.  Why shouldn’t we get rid of it?”

“There’s much more to this place than what is made visible,” Nemei said as she removed herself from Macey’s hold.

“What are you talking about?”  Vegeta demanded to know.

“Over here,” Nemei said as she limped on her crushed foot over to the table in the front left corner by the door.  “I said I would explain everything, so now I am.”  Curiously, Vegeta and Macey followed Nemei over to the table that Macey had looked at earlier.  On it, were old documents, and a painting.

“Yeah, I saw this earlier when I was in the air duct,” Macey said causally.  “What about it?”

“They’re proof of an Assassin civilization that existed long ago on this planet,” Nemei said quietly as she picked up the old painting. 

“I’m sorry, what?”  Macey said in disbelief while she and Vegeta looked at Nemei with puzzled looks. 

“I promised to explain everything to you, which I will, but I think that it would be best if we could sit down and I could lay everything out for you,” Nemei replied as she looked at her father and sister.  “Just, in the meantime, do not damage this black site.”

“You’ll come back to Capsule Corp with us, and we’ll figure all this out,” Vegeta said sternly.  “Can you make it back there?”

“No,” Nemei said, sounding exhausted.  “I think I may have a fractured foot, and I don’t know how to glide.”

“You what?”  Macey said in confusion.  “I thought every assassin had to know how to glide.”

“I’m a half-Assassin, but that doesn’t mean that I work as an assassin,” Nemei informed her as she gathered up the old documents.  “Like I said, I’ll explain everything if we can just go somewhere and sit down.”

“I’ll carry her, and you meet us back at Capsule Corp,” Vegeta told Macey as he bent down and picked Nemei up bridal style while Macey turned her attention back to the assassination scene. 

“Hey, wait,” Macey said as she tried to stop her father from leaving the room and heading down the hallway, “hang on a second.”

“Close your eyes,” Vegeta said quietly to Nemei as he began to fly towards the hallway that was lined with the agents’ bodies.

Wow, Macey scoffed as turned around and noticed that they had left.  Thanks for waiting.  Whatever.  I can’t believe it’s over, Macey thought as she looked at her brother and mother’s lifeless bodies.  After all these years, you were alive when I was raised to believe you were dead.  I hate that I can never be able to call you “mom” because I always wondered what it would feel like, but sometimes the least expected path is the one you have to take, and I’ll walk that path with my father, my sister, and the rest of the Saiyans – I’ll never follow the Assassin path again.  And all this time, Kaiser, you were plotting to kill me from the day I was born.  You led me to believe that you loved and cared about me, and I honestly did love and care about you because I thought you were my older brother – not the person trying to kill me, but maybe, you were corrupted by the Order.  Maybe you weren’t always like this.  Maybe you were once the good guy like I believed you to be, but in the end, your hate and anger consumed you, and you destroyed too many innocent people.  And I don’t know, maybe you always were the bad guy, and I was just fooled by the way you pretended to care about me, but I will promise you that I will find out the truth, and if turns out that you were corrupted by the Order, then no, I won’t bring you back to life because I don’t want you to live with any burdens, but I promise I will take the Order down because if I don’t, then no one else will.  Slowly, Macey began walking towards her brother’s dead body, and as she held her hand over him, a black energy blast formed in her left hand, and with a tear streaming down her face, she released the energy blast and turned his body into nothingness, and all that remained on the floor where he took his final breath was Macey’s dagger.  After picking up her dagger and putting it back down into her left boot, she walked over to her mother’s dead body, and with less emotion, she did the same thing to her mother, and nothing at all remained.  Clean up is finished, she told herself as she finished using her Dust Seal technique.

 

**Dust Seal**

noun

  1. The one formable, energy blast that Assassins can be taught. It is used usually by the clean-up crews after an assassination has taken place, but it can also be used by the assassin themselves if they know it. 



Exceptions: It only works on dead bodies.  Hitting a live body with the Dust Seal will do no harm

 

 Slowly, Macey looked around the room one last time and began to walk out of the door.  Time to go figure out what Nemei knows, she said to herself as she tried to get her mind off of everything that she had just done.  Quickly, she ran through the building and out of the front door, and the guards that she had knocked out earlier were still knocked out.  Damn, she thought as she looked up the hole that were father had created, I don’t think I can leap that high.  There’s about forty feet between the entrance and the ground, and then the hole itself is about a hundred feet back to the surface.  There’s no way I can jump a hundred and forty feet.  If only someone hadn’t left me here.  She quickly looked around and saw the rope with the steel rod still lying on the ground where her father had dropped it.  Well, if it works one way, then I don’t see why it wouldn’t work the other.  Without a second thought, she grabbed the rope with the rod and leapt up as high as she could into the hole, which only ended up being roughly a hundred feet – only forty feet left to climb through the hole.  Alright, she said as she secured the rod into the dirt walls on either side of her.  I wonder if I could use the walls to push off with my feet, she wondered.  As she attempted it, she was unable to gather enough energy between the dirt walls and her feet, and she began to plummet a hundred feet down back to the ground – pulling the rope and the rod back down with her.  No, no, no, no, she thought in panic as she tried to grab on to the roots in the dirt, but ultimately, she ended up pulling all of them out on her way down, and quickly, she came out of the hole and began to fall through the forty feet of air that was between the ground and the hole. Suddenly, before she could process it, she slammed into the hard, rocky ground, and immediately, a shock ran up her spine that she had landed on.  From the impact, her breath was knocked out of her, and for a moment, she was unable to move her body, but once a few seconds went by, she managed to get her breath back, and she was able to roll over onto her left shoulder and push herself up with her right hand.  “Dammit,” she scoffed as she found it difficult and painful to stand back up.  “Pretty sure I bruised my spine on that one,” she said as she tried to ignore the pain in her back.  Come on, she thought as she closed her eyes, what would my father do?  “He’d fly,” she realized.  “Come on, I’m a Saiyan,” she reminded herself.  “Flying can’t be that difficult, but then again, he makes it look so easy.  Maybe it’s the same concept as my gliding.”  Come on, she thought as she looked down at her feet and the ground, move.  I don’t need to fly all the way back to Capsule Corp – I just need to fly out of this hole.  Like whenever she was trying to learn any new assassin technique, she calmed herself, closed her eyes, and focused on nothing but the move she wanted to master.  Slowly, she started to gather energy around her feet, and instead of pushing off of the ground, she used the energy that engulfed her feet to move herself up.  There we go, she laughed as she slowly made her way higher and higher.  Soon, after about two minutes, she felt the cold air of the outside world hit her face, and as she landed on the grassy park, she opened her eyes and saw the sun beaming down on her.  “Finally,” she sighed.  “Now to get home,” she said as she felt the pain in her back again.  Please, stop hurting, she said to herself as she walked out of the park, leapt up on a small building, and used her gliding and Transparency to take her back to Capsule Corp.  After a painfully long thirty minutes, Macey finally saw the large Capsule Corp property come into her view, and she felt happier than she had been in a while when she remembered who was inside of the house.  “Anyone home?”  She yelled out as she walked through the front automatic doors of the large house.

            “In here,” Nemei answered from the living room area.  Macey walked towards the large living room while still holding her hand over her back, and as she walked in, everyone looked at her like she was a stranger.

            “What the hell happened to you?”  Vegeta asked as he looked at his youngest daughter.  Macey, who had fallen a hundred feet to the ground, was covered in dirt, blood, and her new outfit that Bulma had made her was torn up.

“Oh,” Macey chuckled nervously as she was obviously in pain, “I’m pretty sure I bruised my spine.” As she stood there looking at her father, sister, step-mother, and younger half-brother, she felt her knees become weak, and her legs became unable to support her body – causing her to fall to the floor. 

“Mace,” Vegeta said in a worried tone as he tried to get over to her to stop her from falling.  However, when he got to her, she was starting to go unconscious and tears began to fill her eyes.  “Hey, stay awake,” he said as he tried to stop her from closing her eyes.

“It hurts, dad,” she whimpered as painful tears streamed down her face.  “It really, really, hurts.”

“Bulma,” Vegeta said quickly and frantically as Macey passed out.  As she was about to face plant into the floor, Vegeta caught her, but when he went to pick her up, Bulma quickly stopped him from moving her.

            “Vegeta, don’t pick her up!”  Bulma yelled as she ran over to them.  “She may have a broken vertebra, and if you move her, you could hurt her more,” she told him.  “Just take the gun off of her back and lay her down flat on her back.  I’ll be right back – I’m going to look for a Senzu Bean.”

Dammit, where is Kakarot when you actually need him?  Vegeta angrily wondered as he looked at his unconscious, pain-filled daughter.  You’re going to be fine, he thought as he tried to convince Macey through his thoughts, but mainly, he was trying to convince himself.  What the hell happened to you?

            “Dad, is she going to be okay?”  Trunks worriedly asked.

“She’ll be fine,” he assured him.  “She’s a Saiyan – she can handle anything.”

“We don’t have any beans, and neither does Goku.  Apparently, Korin is out.” Bulma announced as she came quickly running back into the living room.

“Well, that’s just fantastic,” Vegeta said sarcastically. 

“Here,” Bulma said as she knelt down next to her husband and step-daughter, “we can just carefully carry her to the lab, and I’ll run an x-ray on her.”  Without argument, Vegeta held Macey’s top body, and Bulma held her by the legs, and both of them made sure not to move her too much. 

“I’m coming too,” Nemei said as she shot up from off the couch and followed them to the lab. 

“Hey, wait up!”  Trunks exclaimed as he too followed.  Down the hallway, was one of Bulma’s labs and as the automatic door opened, Bulma and Vegeta quickly yet carefully set Macey down on her stomach on the steel table.

“Take that vest off of her, and pull her shirt up so I can see her back,” Bulma instructed Vegeta as she went to start up her equipment.  Quickly and carefully, he slid the black vest off of her body, handed it to Nemei, and then pulled her shirt up so that it rested on her shoulders. 

“There,” Vegeta said as he backed away from the table to let Bulma move her x-ray machine over Macey’s body.  “Isn’t that thing meant for artificial things?”  He asked, sounding a bit worried.

“Yes, but it’ll be fine,” she insisted.  “It’s what we used to figure out what you broke when you blew up the gravity room.”  Slowly, Bulma controlled the machine to scan Macey’s body to figure out what she had done to it.  “Right there,” Bulma said as she pointed to two areas on the screen that showed the young half-Saiyan’s skeleton, but as Vegeta, Nemei, and Trunks looked at the screen, they were unable to see what Bulma was pointing at.

“I don’t see anything,” Vegeta told her, and soon, the other two went along with their father.

“It’s right here,” she said as she pointed to her T-3 vertebra – the vertebra between the tops of the shoulder blades, and her T-11 vertebra – the vertebra second to last near the bottom of the ribcage.  “They’re both broken,” she told them.  “She must have fallen from somewhere tall and landed on her back.”

Somewhere tall?  She probably fell trying to climb up that damn hole.  Dammit, Vegeta angrily thought.  If only I hadn’t left her there.  She asked us to wait for her.  What kind of father am I?

“What’re you going to do?”  Vegeta asked Bulma. 

“The only I can do,” she said in a quiet tone.  “I’ll wrap her in bandages so that she doesn’t move too much, and she’ll have to stay in bed until either it heals or we get some Senzu Beans – she shouldn’t be walking around with this injury – it’s a miracle she made it home.”

“Nemei,” Bulma said, getting the older twin’s attention, “can you run up to her room and grab a pair of comfortable clothes and a wet towel?”

“Sure thing,” Nemei quickly agreed and sprinted out of the lab and up to Macey’s room.  I’m so sorry, Dea, she thought with panic.

“I’ll come too!”  Trunks exclaimed as he followed Nemei.

“Do you know what happened?”  Bulma asked Vegeta with concern.

“Yeah,” he said angrily and quietly.  “She probably fell trying to climb out of the hole.  If she was at the top, she fell about a hundred and forty feet to the ground.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you made her wear that vest,” Bulma said to Vegeta as she tried to stop him from being so angry.  “If she hadn’t been wearing it, she probably would have broken her back completely, but she’ll be fine,” she assured him.  “Even if it doesn’t heal quickly, I’m sure we’ll have some Senzu Beans sooner or later.”

That’s not the point, he angrily thought as he looked at his unconscious daughter. What kind of father just leaves his daughter behind?

            Five hours later, as the sun shone bright through Macey’s window, it hit her eye lids and caused her eyes to squint open. 

            Ow, she thought as she felt the pain in her back more than before.  What the hell happened? 

            “Oh,” Nemei said as she saw her sister move from across the room, “you’re awake.” 

“What’s going on?”  Macey said tiredly as Nemei began to walk towards her.  “Why am I in bed?”

“You broke two vertebrae,” Nemei told her as she squatted down besides her bed.  “You passed out because of the pain, so Bulma ran an x-ray on you, and they told me to stay in here until you woke up so that you didn’t try to move.”

“Bed rest?”  She scoffed.  “They’re seriously going to try to keep me on bed rest?”  Macey threw the covers off of her and began to get out of the bed despite what she had been told, but she was soon blocked by Nemei.

“No, Dea!”  She yelled.  “You’re not supposed to be moving!”

“Get out of my way!”  Macey replied yelled back.  “You nor anyone else is keeping me confined to this bed!”

“I will do whatever it takes for you to stay here,” Nemei replied seriously.  “You’re injured!  Now, stay in bed!”

“I thought your foot was fractured,” Macey said as she realized that Nemei walked towards her perfectly fine without a limp, and was quick enough to block her movements.  “How are you walking so perfectly if your foot is fractured?”

“Father gave me a bean that healed me,” Nemei said quietly, and instantly, Macey’s heart dropped to the floor.

“A Senzu Bean?”  She asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes,” she answered quietly.

“Yeah, dad saved my life with one when you nearly killed me in the park,” Macey said, sounding annoyed.  “So, why didn’t he give me one, too?”

“It was the last one,” Nemei said quietly and sounding a bit guilty.

“Great,” Macey scoffed, “so dad gave you and your fractured foot the last Senzu Bean, and now I have to lay here in bed, unable to move, with two broken vertebrae.  I’m pretty sure you could have managed to get around with a fractured foot.”

            “Hey,” Vegeta said as he poked his head into the room, “how are you feeling?”

“Wouldn’t you love to know,” Macey said in anger as tears filled her eyes.

“What’s your problem?”  Vegeta demanded to know.

“Oh, nothing,” Macey angrily chuckled.  “I just murdered my own brother to save my sister, and then I was left behind when you decided to carry her home and not even come back and get me, so when I tried climbing out of that hole, I fell a hundred feet to the dirty, rocky ground and broke two of my vertebrae.  Then, when I woke up, I learned that you gave her the last Senzu Bean for her fractured foot, so now I’m stuck here lying in bed for God knows how long,” Macey told them.  “So yeah, you know, there’s absolutely nothing wrong,” she said sarcastically.

“Mace, I -,” Vegeta began before being cut off by Macey.

“I could’ve died.  If I had landed differently, I might’ve died, then what would you have done?  Nothing.  You would’ve been sitting around in the living room while I laid dead a hundred and forty feet underground,” she said quietly as tears filled her eyes.  “Shows how much you care,” she scoffed.

“Dea, I’m sorry,” Nemei honestly apologized.  “I washed you off and changed you into comfortable clothes,” she told her.  “I didn’t know what else I could do.”

“It’s not your fault,” Macey said quietly as she glared over at her father.  “He just doesn’t care about me is all.  What kind of father just leaves his daughter who just killed her own brother and walked into a massacre at the scene where it all happened?  You just left me there!  You just walked away and left me there!  The least you could’ve done was wait for me.  You could’ve taken her up first, dropped her at the park, came back and got me, and then I would’ve came home right behind the two of you.  I’m sure that Nemei wouldn’t have died from a fractured foot while sitting in the park for a few minutes, but I wouldn’t have broken my damn back!”  She yelled.  “So tell me – dad – am I number two or three on your obvious list of favorites?”  Without uttering a single word, Vegeta walked into the room and as he held his right hand behind his back, Macey became curious as to what it was; however, she restrained herself from asking and instead, she continued to glare at him with tears in her eyes.

“You’re welcome,” he said in an obviously hurt tone as he set a large, yellow gift bag down on the bed next to Macey, and without another word, he turned around and walked out of the room.  Once he closed the door behind him, Nemei soon followed suit, and after she walked out, Macey was left all alone with the bag that her father had set next to her.  Curiously, even though she tried not to, she peeked inside the bag, and as she did, what she saw through the abundance of tissue paper made the tears that had filled her eyes fall.  Quickly, she pulled the objects out of the bag, and laid them in front of her.  The objects that laid in front of her were clearly gifts from her father.  Among the gifts was a brand new phone, a vest that was identical to her father’s, the small, green stuffed dog from her childhood that had been fixed, and there was a small, blue, plastic box, and when she opened it, eight Senzu Beans fell out and landed on her lap. 

“And the “World’s Worst Daughter” award goes to me,” she said as she looked at the sentimental gifts that had been given to her.

            “Have you opened it yet?”  Vegeta asked from outside the door.

“Yeah,” she said quietly as her tears continued to drip down her cheeks as she held the stuffed, green dog close to her while her father walked back into the room.  “I’m sorry for what I said, I’m just -,”

“Going through a lot,” he said, finishing her sentence.  “Yeah, I know.”

“Here,” she said as she handed him the box of Senzu Beans, “I don’t deserve them.”

“Eat it,” he ordered her as he held out one of the beans to her.

Macey chuckled as she tried to stop her tears.  “Why?”  She asked.  “What’s the point?”

“So you don’t have to stay in this bed for the next month,” he said.  “Now, eat it.”

“Maybe I want to stay in this bed,” Macey shrugged.

“I don’t think you know how lucky you are to have these,” he told her.  “A few hours ago, we didn’t think there were any until Kakarot showed up with a brand new batch that he had gotten from Korin.  He decided to give me the whole batch to give to you.”  Feeling annoyed and aggravated, Macey snatched the bean from her father, chew it up, and then swallowed it – instantly healing her back. 

“There,” she said as all of her wounds were healed, “happy?”  Immediately, she rolled over onto her right side so that her back was facing her father.

“Now, get out of the bed,” he ordered her, “we have things to do.”

“Huh?”  Macey replied with a raised eyebrow as she turned to look at her father.  “What’re you talking about?”

“Nemei needs to talk to us,” he said bluntly.

“Right,” Macey remembered.  “I almost forgot about that.”  I feel so horrible, Macey thought as she looked at her father.  Why would I talk to him like that?  Giving into her urge, she quickly threw the blanket off of her, jumped out of the bed on the side that her father was on, wrapped her arms around his neck, and laid the right side of her face on his chest.  “I’m so sorry,” she apologized as she stood there hugging Vegeta.  “I feel awful.  I shouldn’t have talked to you like that.  I don’t know what came over me.”  Because of him being caught by surprise, he didn’t hug her back at first, but then after about ten seconds went by, he gently wrapped his right arm around her. 

“Mace, listen to me,” he began quietly.  “What you saw today, is something that you should have never had to see, and I’m pretty sure that it strengthened the post-traumatic stress disorder that you already have.  Take it from me – some people who have PTSD can’t always control their actions or what comes out of their mouth.”

“Do you forgive me?”  She asked him quietly as she stayed latched on to him.

“No,” he answered.  “If I were to forgive you then that would mean that you did something to upset me,” he explained.  “But you didn’t do anything to me.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly.  “I love you, dad,” she whispered for the first time.  However, Vegeta of course, did not return the words – he did, however, casually tap her back three times with the palm of his right hand, and Macey immediately knew what it meant.

“Alright,” he said as he took his arm away from her, “let’s cut this sentimental crap out and go see what Nemei wanted to talk to us about.”  After taking a deep breath in, Macey let go of her hug and followed her father down to the dining room.

            Gathered around at the dining room table was Bulma and Nemei, and they were soon joined by Vegeta and Macey.  However, still wearing the pajamas that Nemei put her in – an oversized gray shirt and a pair of red pajama pants, Macey felt as though she was the only one underdressed.  As Nemei wore one of Bulma’s outfits – a casual pink tank top and black leggings, she sat at the head of the table with the papers that she had taken with her from the interrogation room. 

            “Okay,” Nemei began as she tied her long, straight, light brown hair back into a low bun, “like I said earlier, there’s a lot that I need to explain, and honestly, I’m not quite sure how to phrase it, so I’m just going to say it.”  Anxiously, her father, sister, and step-mother looked at her, and they were obviously anticipating the things that she had to tell them.  “I am almost completely certain that the Order has been corrupted since it began,” she started.  “Before my mother, Kadi Morrigan, had Dea and me, she stumbled across a piece of pretty damming evidence – this picture.”  As she slid the ancient picture to the center of the table, the three others looked at it with confusion, and eventually said that they didn’t know who it was.  “That’s Arikane Mors,” Nemei told them, which obviously caught them by surprise.  “When my mother was twenty, she was on an assassination on Earth, and while she was searching for her target, she fell into an underground cave, and while she was trying to find her way out, she found that painting, and she immediately became curious when she realized that it was a spitting image of Arikane Mors.  Due to her curiosity, and because she was of legal age, she quit her job as an assassin and focused on figuring out how there was an ancient picture of Arikane Mors.  Eventually, she was able to trace the paint used and the paper back to 112 BC, and obviously, Arikane Mors wouldn’t have been alive then.  Then, five years later, the Saiyans would take our planet; however, that didn’t stop her from searching, and what she found was magnificent.  She unearthed these documents; however, she was never able to decipher them or figure out who wrote them, but what she did know that it was an ancient language that was used by the early Assassins on Planet Phonoi.  From reading her diary after her death, I was able to learn more about her and I learned that about a year and a half later, she caught word that Arikane Mors was looking for a surrogate to carry his child, and because she knew that someone would have to carry on in her place, she agreed under the condition that she could have one as well – which would end up to be me.  She knew that she gave birth to twins, obviously, so when she heard that Dea was enrolled in the Academy, she enrolled me as well just so my DNA would be put into the universe’s database.  Her hope was that we would one day meet each other, and she could help me finish what she started.  Two days later, she pulled me out of the Academy, and she left our planet for good – taking me along with her.  We took refuge on Earth, and at four years old, my mother taught me everything I know – how to survive, how to hunt, how to search – everything.  Even though she could use them, but didn’t, she never taught me how to glide, but she did teach me to use Transparency for a short amount of time in case I needed to hide from predators.  According to her, Transparency burns through too much energy, and that’s what you need when you’re out in the wilderness in different kinds of climates, and gliding not only attracts too much attention to yourself, but also might make you miss a clue or something valuable.  Six years later, while we were still surviving out in the wilderness and looking for more clues, my mother went out to hunt and never came back.  Afraid for her, I grabbed my crossbow and went out to look for her, and within a matter of minutes, I found her and her killer, and I instinctually fired my aimed arrow and struck him in between the eyes – killing him instantly.  Then, when I walked up to my mother and her assassin, I realized that the assassin was Arikane Mors, and he looked the same exact way as he did in the ancient painting – that was just five years ago, so there’s no way that he died from an illness merely days after we were born.  My guess is that we were digging too deep into something that he didn’t want uncovered, so he decided to try to put an end to us, but I thought that I was able to end him before he got to me.  Then, I spent the next four years taking over what my mom started.  During those four years, I discovered the ruins of a civilization deep in the forests.  While searching around, I found more ancient documents, and after translating them, they talked about how rogue Assassins were going to start their own organization, and eventually, their descendants would take over so that they could monitor the Assassins – that organization would come to be known as the C.I.A., and that’s one reason why I believe Arikane Mors wanted to move the Assassins to Earth – to monitor them back.  Everything was going great, and I was finding more and more evidence, until one day I was captured, and the man that captured me was none other than Arikane Mors, and with him, was Kaiser, and again, he looked the exact same.  After capturing me, they held me in an ancient prison for the next six months, and tried to figure out how much I knew, but I never told them anything – no matter how much they pushed me.  Then, one day, about two weeks ago, Kaiser told me everything about me – who my real father was, who my sister was, and that she was refusing to carry out her mission, so he decided that he wanted her dead, and because he wanted to hurt me as well, he told me that he was going to have me kill her, and then they’d set me free afterwards; however, I knew to use this to my advantage, and so I started planning on how I was going to relay all this information because I knew that one, if not both of them, would be watching me the entire time.  On the night of the ambush, I had to make it look real, so I had Kaiser give me one of his old outfits and his weapons, and I had to act like I really wanted to kill Dea because I knew at least one of them was watching, and they would’ve killed both of us if I walked away, and they would have heard what I know if I had said it out loud.  From my years of hunting and experience, I knew how to avoid all of the major arteries and organs, so I made sure to avoid them.  The next day, I went to her warehouse and tore it apart because I was looking for the sword that the Saiyan who saved her took, but when I got there, it was gone – Kaiser or Arikane had taken it.  Since I knew that the C.I.A. is composed of ancient rogue Assassins’ descendants, I figured that Arikane knew as well, and he’s a smart man – there’s no denying that – so I knew that he’d use them to his advantage.  So, I made a call to the C.I.A., and I told them that there was an illegal assassination going on at your warehouse, and they needed to come and catch the perpetrator.  And like the good, rogue, Assassins that they are a part of – they came and broke us up, but one of the two that drove us to the black site was Arikane himself.  I learned from listening to the other agents when they thought I was going crazy that his C.I.A. name is “Agent Berry”.  While I waited for Dea and our father, I created the message that I gave her when she came into my room using a code that I had learned from the ancient Asssassins.  I knew that Arikane and Kaiser were most likely going to kill me, so I knew that someone had to pick up where I left off – what I didn’t expect was for our biological mother to be there with Kaiser.  It’s usually Kaiser and Arikane, and now I’m beginning to think that Arikane had something to do with Ina being alive.  So, now, thanks to the two of you, I’m able to carry on my mother’s will and figure out what is going on with Arikane Mors and the corruption of the Order, and also, I need to figure how out to translate the two documents that my mother was never able to.”

            “So, that’s why Kaiser killed them,” Macey said quietly to herself.  “I knew I had seen that one agent before.”

“All of the descendants of the ancient rogue Assassins have illegal contracts on their head,” Nemei explained.  “That’s why he looked familiar, and that’s why Kaiser believed that they were guilty.”

            “Let me get this straight,” Vegeta began.  “So, you’re saying that a group of Assassins fled planet Phonoi in 112 BC and recolonized on Earth?”

“Yes,” she confirmed.  “From what I’ve found, that seems to be the case, and apparently, Arikane and or someone else doesn’t want us digging into it.”

            “So, is he immortal or something?”  Bulma asked as she examined the painting.  “How can he be depicted the way he looks today in this ancient painting?”

“That, I don’t know,” Nemei replied.  “I mean, if I had to guess, then I’d say yes, but I don’t know how he would have obtained that.”

“Do you think he could have come to Earth and used the Dragon Balls way back then?”  Macey asked as she tried to figure everything out.

“The what?”  Nemei replied looking confused.

“There are seven of them, and they grant you any wish you want,” Vegeta explained.  “They’re spread out all over the planet.”

“I guess he could have,” Nemei shrugged, “but I’ve killed him before – when I saw him kill my mom, I killed him.  I made sure he was dead.  His pulse was gone and everything.”

“What’s his game?”  Macey quietly wondered to herself.

“I think he has two goals,” Nemei answered.  “I think he wants the Saiyans dead for what happened seventeen years ago because of your mission that he wanted you to do, and I also think that he wants to keep whatever happened in 112 BC covered up.”

“That’s what I don’t get,” Macey continued.  “If he really wanted the Saiyans dead, and he really wasn’t dead, why not just hunt them down himself?  If something was that personal to me, then I’d take care of it myself – I wouldn’t want someone else doing it.  He had identified our father’s DNA as Saiyan, and even talked Queen Enyo into moving our race to a planet inside the Earth where he found Saiyan DNA, so why go through the trouble of creating half-breeds? He was right there under Goku and Gohan the entire time – he might have even been on Earth when everyone believed he had died.  Why not just do it himself?”

“Because he doesn’t want to kill the Saiyans,” Vegeta quietly answered.  “Kaiser and Ina did.  You’re right, if that’s what he really wanted, then he would have done it himself.  All Arikane cares about is covering up the truth from the second-century BC, and all Kaiser did was lead us to believe that Arikane wanted the Saiyans dead when in actuality, it was Kaiser who held the grudge.”

“But then why create us?”  Macey asked her father.  “And why set it up so that I would be trained my entire life to kill the Saiyans?  I mean, even Queen Enyo would talk to me about my mission – she handed me the damn folders!”

“That, I can’t answer for you,” he said quietly.

“There’s a lot we need to figure out,” Nemei said.  “We need to know how Arikane is alive, how Ina came back to life when she was killed by our father, how Arikane and Kaiser teamed up together and why, how there’s an ancient painting of Arikane before he was even alive, what he’s hiding, and why he created us if it wasn’t so that we would kill the Saiyans.”

And if he’s really the Agent Berry that tricked me into killing Pax’s son and boyfriend, Macey thought.  “Why are there always more questions than answers?”  She scoffed in aggravation.

“I think I may be able to figure out some of those answers,” Nemei said.  “I’m not going to give up on finding the rest of the ancient civilizations – I’ve found one, and I’m sure there are more out there – this world is huge, and somewhere out there, there has to be a way to translate these two documents.”

“So, you’re leaving?”  Bulma asked her older step-daughter.

“I have to,” she answered.  “The truth about Arikane Mors and the Order is out there, and I don’t care what it takes – I will find it.”

“He killed your mother for digging too deep,” Vegeta reminded her.  “If he’s still out there protecting his secrets, who’s to say he won’t kill you?”

“He had multiple chances to kill me when he and Kaiser captured me, and he didn’t,” Nemei told her father, “so, if he didn’t do it then, then I don’t see why he’d do it now.”

“At least stay here for a few days and rest,” Bulma pleaded with Nemei.

“Indoor living isn’t really my forte,” Nemei chuckled.  “I need to be out there scouring the Earth for the truth about the Assassins and Arikane.  There has to be a reason for all of this, and I’m willing to bet it has something to do with him.  He had to have had a reason for creating us, he has to be hiding something huge, and there has to be a reason that he and Kaiser teamed up together, and it has to be a good reason if Arikane really doesn’t want the Saiyans dead.”

“At least let me buy you some new clothes,” Bulma offered in an attempt to get her to stay.  “I’m sure it can get pretty cold and hot out there depending on where you are.”

“Fine,” Nemei said, finally giving in.  “Mine are all torn up and dirty anyways, but then I have to go.  I only came into this type of civilization so that I could give Dea my message when I thought I was going to die.”

“Well, I’ll help you,” Macey replied.

“I really appreciate the offer, but do you know how to survive months or years on end out in the middle of nowhere?”  Nemei asked.

“I wasn’t talking about that,” Macey corrected her.  “I’ll help as much as I can from here.  I might be able to figure out who wrote those two documents if you give me a copy of them.  There are also some other things I need to figure out that have to do with Kaiser.”

“That would be a big help,” Nemei replied with a smile as she pushed the two handwritten documents to Macey.  “I’ve been trying for forever to figure out who wrote these and what they say.”

“Bulma, do you think you can make a copy of these?”  Macey asked her step-mother. 

“Sure thing,” she smiled.

She’s not too bad, Macey thought as she was starting to see how kind her step-mother actually was. 

“It’s getting close to lunch time,” Bulma said as she looked at the clock on the wall that read twelve-fifteen.  “What does everyone want?  I’ll have the cooks start cooking for us.”

“I don’t care,” Macey chuckled.  “I just want some good food.”

“Same,” Nemei agreed.  “Eating deer and rabbit all the time can get kind of old.”

“I’ll just have them cook a little bit of everything,” Bulma laughed.  “And once we’re done eating, Vegeta – you can take both of them to the mall, can’t you?”

“What?!  Why me?!” He exclaimed, obviously trying to get out of it.

“They both need clothes, and they can’t walk there and back,” Bulma began to nag him.  “I have things to do in the lab.”  Hearing and seeing the interaction between their father and step-mother made smiles appear on both Macey and Nemei’s face. 

“It’s fine,” Nemei said with a grin and a chuckle.  “We don’t have to do today.  We can just go tomorrow – give him time to process it,” she laughed.

“Looks like someone wants to stay,” Bulma poked fun at Nemei.

“Maybe for a few days,” she quietly and embarrassingly replied, “but that’s it.”

“Right,” Bulma joked as she walked out of the room with the two documents and headed to her lab to make the copies.  As the joy that filled the air for the two girls and Bulma faded, Macey found herself starting to feel sick, and quickly got up and ran upstairs to her room. 

What is this?  She asked herself as her body began shaking and her heart rate began to speed up as she made her way down the hallway to her room.

            “Is she alright?”  Nemei asked her father as she both saw how strange Macey began to act.

            “No,” he honestly replied, “she’s not alright.”

Is it hate or pain?  Macey asked herself as she laid down on her bed, hugged her newly fixed stuffed, green dog, and tried to calm herself down.  Or is it fear?  Just please stop shaking, she begged herself.

“Hey,” Nemei said as she knocked on the door to her sister’s room and slowly opened it, “are you alright?”  She asked. 

“I’m not sure,” Macey replied as she continued to try to calm herself down.  Slowly, Nemei made her way over to her sister’s bed and sat down next to her.

“I know that today wasn’t a good day at all, but you saved my life,” she began to tell her.  “And not only that, but you avenged so many innocent people.”

“That’s not it,” Macey denied.  “I’m not upset about that – I did what I had to do.  It’s just that everything I’ve ever been told until recently was nothing but a lie,” she began.  “Absolutely everything.  My whole life, Kaiser would always tell me about how on Arikane’s death bed, he wished for me to kill all the Saiyans, but come to find out, he’s not dead, and he clearly doesn’t want them killed, otherwise, he would have done it.  My whole life, that’s what I was trained for, that’s why I was told that I existed.  Then, come to find out, Kaiser was plotting against me my entire life – even going as far as to send you to kill me, and he never once mentioned that Arikane or our mother was alive.  I was raised to believe that they both died – father even told me that he killed Ina.  Hell, even the C.I.A. withheld that they were descendants of rogue Assassins.  For the past fifteen years, my entire life has been nothing but a lie, and I think what’s the scariest part is that I don’t even know why we were deliberately created.  We weren’t just an accident – we were manually created by Arikane Mors when he purposely fertilized two of our mother’s eggs with our Saiyan father’s sperm that was left behind.  There has to be a reason for our existence and a reason he didn’t use his own.”

“And we’re going to find out that reason,” Nemei assured her, “but don’t ever question your existence.  I know we both grew up in extremely different ways, so I can’t even begin to imagine what you went through having to live with Kaiser, but I know that it’s shaped you into the person you are today.  You called yourself an avenger earlier, and I saw it in your eyes and heard it in your voice, and I could tell that you meant it, so hold on to that.  If in a moment like that you can call yourself something, then that’s what you are.  Sometimes, I get in a bind, and all I tell myself is that I’m going to survive and then when I do come out of it, I realize that that’s what I am – a survivor.  I could feel it in your words that you meant everything you said to Kaiser, so while you help me find the truth, be what you’ve made yourself into – an avenger.  There are more C.I.A. agents, and that organization isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and I know about the deal you made with them, so accept the contracts that you want from them, and help those who can’t help themselves.  I can tell you that it means a lot to the victims and families because you avenged me today along with God knows how many other people, and I have to tell you ‘thank you’ because now that I know Kaiser is dead, it feels like there is a weight lifted off of my shoulder.”

“You’re right,” Macey said quietly as she nodded her head.  “And thank you,” she continued as she looked up at her sister.  “That really means a lot to me to know that I’m actually making a difference, but there’s one thing that’s bothering me.”

“What’s that?” Nemei questioned curiously.

“Was that the first time that Arikane ever captured you?”  Macey asked her sister.

“Yeah,” Nemei confirmed, “why?”

“And when they questioned you about what all you knew and told you about the ambush, were both of them ever in the room?”  She asked.

“Yeah,” Nemei began.  “That’s another thing I can’t figure out as well.  If Arikane is going to such lengths to cover up what happened in 112 BC, then why would Kaiser have known about it?  And why didn’t Arikane say something to Kaiser when he heard him plan the ambush?”

“There has to be a reason behind all of this,” Macey shook her head. 

“And we’re going to find it,” Nemei reassured her.  “Let’s head back downstairs – I think dad is a little worried about you,” Nemei said quietly.  Without a reply, Macey went to hop off of her bed, and as she did, she casually tapped her sister’s back three times.

“Come on,” Macey said as she stood up from her bed, “I’m starving,” she chuckled as the two of them headed towards the door.  “Oh hey, hang on a sec,” she said.  Quickly, Macey put her hands on her head, and changed her hair and eye color back to their normal, black color.  “What do ya think?”  She said as she looked at her sister.

“I think you look like a spitting image of our dad,” Nemei chuckled as she looked at her younger twin.

“Thank you,” she said proudly as she smiled as opened the door, and soon, she was followed by Nemei, and as the two twin sisters walked down the hallway to head down to the dining room, they could smell the sweet aroma of the food being cooked, and as they got downstairs and into the living room, they could see their half-younger brother sitting on the couch next to their step-mother watching television, and they watched their father head down the hallway towards his gravity room, and without effort, genuine smiles appeared on both of their faces.


	16. Chapter 16 - Fear of Consequence / Strength

**Chapter 16**

**Part 1: Fear of Consequence**

**“We are free to choose our paths, but we can't choose the consequences that come with them.” – Sean Covey**

 

            West City Mall.  It was located ten miles away from Capsule Corp, and it was where Nemei and Macey had dragged their father to and where they had forced him to stay for the past two-and-a-half hours. 

            I can’t believe I got suckered into this, Vegeta thought, feeling annoyed as his two teenage daughters walked around the sports store and picked out what seemed to be like any and everything.  While he followed them around, he carried Macey’s eight shopping bags from multiple stores on his left arm and Nemei’s four bags on his right.  My training is much more important than shopping.  I need to be prepared for the war with the assassins.  I have to get stronger if I’m to beat all of them.

            “So, blond, huh?”  Nemei joked with Macey as they talked about her attempt at living a normal life.

            “Yeah,” Macey chuckled.  “I mean, he’s cute and athletic.”

“Have you talked to him?”  Nemei asked as she started to look at camping backpacks.

“Not since that night, no,” Macey admitted as she looked a little embarrassed.  “I wouldn’t know what to say.”

            “Would the two of you hurry up already?”  Vegeta barked.  “I’m sick of being here.  I have more important things to do.”

“Stop complaining,” Macey snapped back as she looked around at all of the camping equipment.  “You’re acting like a child.”

“What?”  He replied, sounding offended.  However, while the youngest daughter and her father bickered back and forth, Nemei couldn’t help but to laugh as she finally picked out a backpack. 

“Do you two argue often?”  She chuckled, causing the two of them to look at her and stop their arguing.  Nemei sighed as she looked through the pockets of the bag.  “You two really are a lot alike.”

“Whatever,” Vegeta scoffed. 

“What’re we doing in the camping section?”  Macey asked as she picked up an extended lighter and looked at it.

“I need new gear,” Nemei told them.  “All of my gear got destroyed when Arikane and Kaiser captured me – it was a miracle that I managed to save the painting and those two documents.”

“Gear?”  Macey asked with a puzzled look.

“I need stuff so that I can survive out in the wilderness,” she explained.  “I need a new backpack, knives, lighters, notebooks, pens, a fire blanket, flashlights, a water canister, climbing axes, lock picks, rope, string, and bullets.”

“Bullets?”  Vegeta asked with curiosity.

“Yeah,” she confirmed.  “I’m taking that gun that Dea took – might come in handy,” she shrugged. 

“Here,” Macey said as she grabbed a folded up tent, “do you want this?”

“That’s too much,” Nemei laughed.  “It’ll only weigh me down – I try not to carry too much.  That’s why I didn’t buy as many clothes as you did.”  After browsing the camping section for roughly thirty minutes, Nemei picked out a black, water-proof and fire-proof camping backpack, two black climbing axes, a utility belt, two flashlights, two fire blankets, a lock pick set, a few different sized knives, a pack of extended lighters, a thing of rope, a pack of string, black climbing boots that went to her mid-shin, and bullets that would go in the gun that Macey had taken.  “I’ll have to get notebooks and pens somewhere else,” she shrugged.  “I’m sure that Bulma has some.”

“Great, now can we go?”  Vegeta asked impatiently. 

“Yes, your majesty,” Nemei joked.  “Let’s go.”  All in all, the total amount that was spent on the two teenagers was a collective $8,902.21; however, the majority of it was Nemei’s new camping and survival gear. 

            “I’m hungry,” Macey said as her stomach growled while the trio walked through the food court on the way out of the mall.

            “Same here,” Nemei agreed.

            “Why do I feel like the two of you are just doing this to annoy me?”  Vegeta asked as he clearly became aggravated with them.

“Because you’re weird,” Macey scoffed at him.  “Either way, we’re hungry, and you’re our father, so it’s your responsibility to feed us.”  No sooner than Macey got the words out of her mouth, Vegeta’s stomach growled – which caused his face to turn red from embarrassment. 

“It’s settled then,” Nemei said as she headed towards a steakhouse.  Once the three settled inside the restaurant, Vegeta and Macey sat with their backs up against the wall and facing the door as Nemei sat on the other side.  Minutes later, the waiter came to their table and took their drink orders.  Nemei ordered a soft drink, Vegeta and Macey ordered water, and Vegeta found himself caught by surprise.

“Wow,” he said as the waiter walked away with their drink orders.  “I didn’t think I’d see the day when you drank water.  What happened to your coffee obsession?”

“Meh,” Macey shrugged as she looked over the menu.  “I’ve been feeling a little nauseous today – water might help settle my stomach,” she told him.  “I’m gonna go pee.  Uh, just order me the medium side of fries,” she said as she got out of the booth. 

“What?  You don’t want your stuffed, green peppers?”  Vegeta asked in shock.

“Just not feeling them,” she said as she headed towards the bathroom.

That’s the eighth time today, Vegeta thought as he watched his youngest daughter practically run to the restroom.  Nausea, frequent restroom trips, food aversions.  No, it’s too soon for that.  It’s been what – four days?  It happened on Friday, and today is Tuesday – that’s far too early, but I swear to God – if she is – I’ll kill him.

“Dad,” Nemei said as she snapped her fingers in front of Vegeta’s face in order to get his attention, “did you hear me?”

“No,” he answered as he looked at his eldest daughter.  “What is it?”

“I asked you, ‘what’s the best thing to eat here?’,” Nemei repeated her ignored question.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged.  “It’s all food.”

“Fine,” she said as she closed her menu and smirked. “I know what I’m having.”  I still can’t believe that he’s really my dad, Nemei thought as she watched her father lean back, cross his arms, and close his eyes.  It’s crazy – I look nothing like him.  “Do you think we’ll be able to figure it out?”  She quietly asked her zoned out father.

“Figure what out?”  He asked without opening his eyes up.

“The truth,” Nemei began.  “The truth to why Dea and I were created and what Arikane and the Order are up to – or have been up to.”

“I don’t see why not,” he shrugged, “but once we do, I will destroy the Assassins who work as assassins.”

“Didn’t you destroy Planet Phonoi once?”  Nemei asked curiously.

“Why do you want to know?”  He counter-questioned as he opened his eyes up and looked at her.

“I’m just curious,” she answered.  “Why’d you do it?”

Vegeta went silent for a moment.  “It was an order,” he began.  “I was under control by this tyrant named Frieza.  Frieza got the order to have Phonoi destroyed, and then he gave the order to this other Saiyan named Nappa and me.”

“And you just decided to sleep with Ina before blowing the planet up?”  Nemei guessed.

“Basically,” He confirmed.  “I didn’t think that since the planet was going to be blown up that children would come out of it.”

“Do you regret it?”  Nemei asked her father seriously.

“I don’t know,” he answered quietly.  Soon, Macey arrived back at the table, and after her, the waiter followed, and he took their orders and delivered their drinks.  Macey ordered her side of fries, and Vegeta and Nemei ordered the same thing – two, medium-rare steaks with sides of vegetables.  “Are you really going to eat all that?”  Vegeta asked Nemei.  “I didn’t think you were going to order exactly what I did.”

“Well, you didn’t tell me what was good,” she laughed.  “And if I don’t, I’m sure you will,” she smirked. 

“I don’t see how you guys can eat that,” Macey said, sounding nauseated.  “Just thinking about that makes me sick.”

“Hey,” Nemei said quietly as she leaned across the table, “are you feeling okay?”

“I’m not sure,” Macey replied as she closed her eyes and shook her head, “but maybe some food in my system will help.”

            Soon, all of their orders came out, and while Nemei and Vegeta scarfed down their food, Macey slowly picked at her’s and ended up leaving a small portion, and admittedly, Vegeta was surprised by his half-Saiyan daughter not wanting to eat.  On their way out, Nemei stopped in the restroom, and Vegeta and Macey waited outside the restaurant, and while they were standing there, Vegeta couldn’t help but notice that something was severely wrong with his youngest daughter.

            “You barely ate anything,” he said, casually starting a conversation.

            “I know,” she admitted as she leaned against the wall.  “I feel like if I eat anymore, I’m going to throw it up.”

“You and I need to talk when we get home,” Vegeta said in a serious tone that sent shivers down Macey’s back.  “Alone,” he specified.

“About what?”  Macey questioned with a puzzled and worried look as she looked at her stone-faced father; however, before Vegeta could or would answer, Nemei came walking out of the restaurant, and the three of them quickly headed towards the front doors and back to Capsule Corp, and during the entire trip home, Macey’s stomach began to churn more and more.  Oh, thank God, she thought once they were back on Capsule Corp property.  Quickly, Macey took her bags, sprinted up to her room, threw her bags on her bed, and sprinted into her bathroom.  As soon as she entered her bathroom, everything that she had just eaten came back up.  What the hell is wrong with me?  She wondered as she sat on the bathroom floor next to the toilet. 

            “Is she going to be alright?”  Nemei asked Vegeta as they were still standing downstairs.

            “That depends,” Vegeta cryptically answered as he slowly made his way up the stairs and into his and Bulma’s room.  Luckily, Bulma wasn’t in there, so he wasn’t forced to answer the million-and-one questions that he knew she’d ask, and after getting what he went in there for, he opened the door to Macey’s room and saw her still sitting on the bathroom floor.  While trying to find the words that he wanted and needed to say, he couldn’t help but to look at his sick daughter and think about how furious he’d be if what he thought was true.  It’s only been four days, he reminded himself as he closed the door behind himself and locked it.

            “What’re you doing in here?”  Macey asked sounding sick, tired, and aggravated.

“I told you that we needed to talk,” he reminded her in a serious tone as he walked towards her bed and sat down.  “Come over here,” he ordered her.  Without argument, Macey slowly walked over to her giant, comfortable bed, laid down behind her father’s back, and hugged her stuffed, green dog close to her as she curled up into a ball and closed her eyes tightly.

“I don’t feel well,” she said as she tried to ignore her nausea.  “Can you hurry this up?”

“However fast this goes depends on how willing you are to answer my questions,” he said bluntly as he stared straight ahead towards the door that led to and from Macey’s room. 

“Just hurry up,” she snapped at him.  “I want to go to sleep.”

Fatigue, he thought to himself as he listed off another one of Macey’s side effects.  “Tell me the truth – who did you have sex with on Friday night?”  He asked straightforwardly, causing shock and concern to come over Macey.

“Why is that important?”  Macey counter-questioned, sounding a bit embarrassed and shocked.  “It was a one-time thing.”

“Tell me,” he barked at her with his anger beginning to rise.  “Now.”

“His name is Sharpner,” Macey said as she gave up the other half of her one-night rendezvous.  “You don’t know him.  Why does it matter?”

“So I know who to kill if this comes back positive,” he said through his teeth as he tossed the object that he had taken from Bulma’s drawer behind him and towards Macey.

“A pregnancy test?”  She scoffed in disbelief as she held the object in her hands.  “You can’t be serious.”

“Deadly,” he confirmed.  “Now, go take it.  I’m sure you have to pee again.”

“Why do you think I’m pregnant?”  She asked in disbelief.  “I told you that we used protection.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Vegeta argued.  “I’m sure he was just as drunk as you were – accidents can happen that way.  Besides, you’ve had nothing but symptoms all day today.”

“Even if I was, it’s only been four days, so I wouldn’t have an accurate result, and I sure as hell wouldn’t be showing symptoms,” Macey rebutted.

“Stop arguing, and just go take it,” Vegeta quietly ordered her, feeling fed up with her attitude.  “That test was made by Capsule Corp – it’ll tell you the day after if you are or not or what the chances you will be are.”  Feeling annoyed and like she just wanted to go to sleep, Macey reluctantly agreed to take the test just so her father would leave her alone about it. 

I can’t believe that he thinks I could be that stupid, Macey scoffed as she waited the five minutes that the test took to give results.  He thinks he knows everything, when in reality, he doesn’t know anything.  Why is it that every single I time, I try to be a normal teenager, something always comes raining on my parade?  I know for a fact that we used protection – I’m not an idiot, but for some reason, he doesn’t seem to believe it.  After the five minutes were up, Macey walked back out with the test in her hand, and without looking at it – due to her uninterested feelings towards it – she handed it to her father and went to lay back down.  “There,” she said as she plopped back down on her bed, “happy?”

“No,” he replied angrily as he looked at the test in his hands, immediately causing fear in Macey.  “I’m going to kill him.”

“What?!”  She exclaimed in shock, and she jumped up and looked at the test over her father’s shoulder.  “What the hell, why would you scare me like that?”  She asked angrily as she looked at the negative result on the test.  “It says ‘negative’,” she said as she pointed out the bolded words to him.

“Look underneath it,” Vegeta said as he pointed to the “Chance of Conception” window below the negative result.

“Seventy-eight percent,” Macey said quietly as her heart began to pound out of her chest and her father’s anger began to rise more.  “There has to be a mistake,” she said, trying to convince both of them that the test was wrong.

“There’s not,” he insisted as he turned around to face his daughter.  “If you really used protection, then that should read zero percent.”

“I swear that we did,” Macey tried to convince her fuming father.  “I swear on my life that we did.”

“Obviously not,” Vegeta replied as he held the 78% reading closer to her face.  “Now, tell me where he lives,” he ordered her.

“No,” she replied almost immediately.  “Absolutely not.”

“Well then, you’d better hope that the 22% is in your favor,” he said menacingly as he got up from the bed and walked towards the door; however, he was pulled back when Macey grabbed him from behind while she was trying to stop him from walking out.

“Stop,” she said as tears formed her eyes.  “Dad, I’m scared.”  Without a word, Vegeta turned around, still with his daughter’s arms around him so that she was hugging onto the front of his body rather than his back, and of course, he didn’t return the hug, but he did let her clutch onto him for as long as she wanted to while she shook like a leaf with fear.  So much fear took over her body that she was unable to cry or move – all she could do was shake and keep her grip on him. 

“How do you feel about doing ‘normal teenage things’ now?”  He asked as he placed his right hand on her back.

“This wasn’t a normal teenage thing,” she shakenly replied.  “This was a stupid mistake,” she said quietly.  “That son of a bitch – he told me that he was wearing one.”

“Told you?”  Vegeta laughed with anger.  “Yeah, because that’s always the truth,” he said sarcastically.  “You didn’t see it?”

“No,” she shook her head.  “I just believed him when he said he had one – maybe it broke, and we were both too drunk to notice.”

“I would like to believe that’s the case,” Vegeta admitted.  “Either way – I’ll still kill him if that 22% isn’t on your side.”  Dammit, he thought in aggravation, I shouldn’t have given in to her that night.

“Can I talk to you later?”  Macey quietly asked her father whom she was still clung to.

“If you want to,” Vegeta replied.  “I need to go train,” he said as he tapped Macey’s back three times just like before and headed out of the door and down to his gravity room. 

            Upon entering the gravity room, Vegeta immediately began to let the anger inside him out when his room turned on and went up to 500 times Earth’s gravity, and as the sound and feeling of his robots’ attacks shooting past him intensified, he knew that there was nothing he couldn’t do. 

            I swear I’m going to kill him, he thought as his robots fired shots at him.  First it’s him, then it’s the assassins, then it’s Kakarot.  The assassins, he scoffed as he thought about everything that had happened with Kaiser and Ina the day before and what he had learned from Nemei about Arikane.  All of them will be killed by my hand – AGAIN!  How dare they think they’re so high and mighty – picking a fight with the Prince of All Saiyans.  I’ll show them what it truly means to go to war with a Saiyan – last time was child’s play.  No – Macey, Nemei – I don’t regret what I did.  That vile woman and her bastard son deserved everything that I put them through all those years ago and everything they went through yesterday.  How they were still alive pisses me off just thinking about it.  As the robots continued to fire at him, he continued to dodge them and deflect their attacks with attacks of his own.  And Kakarot, he continued in anger.  I’m done living in your shadow.  First you save my daughter – making me feel completely worthless, then your son introduced her to that no good, horny teenager who most likely has gotten her pregnant, and not to mention, all the years that you’ve bested me – ever since I first met you, and now it’s time I stop accepting my position as your second, and I move to claim your spot.  My royal family is growing more and more each day, and it’s about time that I reclaim my throne as your superior and show them what true Saiyans are capable of.

            Four hours later, down the hall from the gravity room where Vegeta was letting off some of his anger, Nemei sat at the large dining room table with her two documents, the painting, and a notebook and pen in front of her. 

            Okay, she thought as she continued to try to figure out what the documents were telling her.  It’s some sort of ancient Assassin language – I know that, but which one is it?  I’ve already found Helun, so I know it’s not that one, so what could it be?  This would be so much easier if I had the translating book.  In front of her, the document that she was working on read:

            “Cejajin dlaorks dhoav ulo klark.  Dhoav huxo dailuko, klako.  Dhoav ulo droxol.  A un kod hork.  Jasiyns ulo oronav.  Dhoav ulo kuk.  A nuko dluko.”

There’s nothing I can come up with, she continued to think as she stared at the paper.  Obviously, “Dhoav”, “A”, and “Ulo” are the same words, but other than that – I have nothing. 

            “Hey,” Vegeta said as he crept into the dining room and looked at his eldest daughter hard at work.  “What’re you up to?”  He asked.

“I’m trying to figure out this stupid language,” she scoffed as she leaned back and crossed her arms.  “I’m not getting anywhere,” she told him.  “No matter what I do, I can’t figure this thing out, and the other one is the exact same language.  I need to get back out there and find the translation – I’m sure there’s one somewhere.  It might lead us to what Arikane is hiding.  Where’s Dea?”

“In her room,” Vegeta answered bluntly.  “Has she come down?”

“I haven’t seen her,” Nemei shrugged.  “I guess she really doesn’t feel well.  I’m gonna go get a shower and get some sleep,” Nemei said as she gathered her ancient findings.  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she walked out of the dining room and headed up the stairs.

“You can come out now,” Vegeta said as he walked into the dining room and sat down at the table.  Suddenly, Macey appeared from around the corner by the opposite door that Nemei walked out of. 

“Hey,” she said quietly and she cautiously pulled the chair across from her father out and sat down in it.

“What’d you want to talk to me about?”  Vegeta asked as he crossed his arms and looked at his still, visibly shaken daughter.

“First, you have to promise me that everything I tell you stays between us,” Macey stressed, and Vegeta gave his nod of promise to her.  “And the second thing is that if you decide to reply to anything that I have to say, which you don’t have to, I want the full and complete truth, and I want you to talk to me as the man that I know you are.  I can tell what runs through your head and is never voiced unlike the others, so please, please be that person.  Just for this one time, I’m begging you, please drop the tough exterior.  It’s just you and me, and the things that I’m about to tell you, I don’t want anyone else to hear.”

“Under one condition,” Vegeta bargained.  “Nothing I tell you leaves us.”

“Deal,” Macey agreed. 

“Come on,” he said as he stood up from the table and started down the hallway, followed by Macey.  “We’ll go sit in the gravity room.”  While walking into her father’s gravity room, Macey found herself amazed by the vastness of it and couldn’t believe that a room like it was in her house.  Suddenly, and without warning, her body began to feel heavier, and it became harder for her to stand. 

“What is this?”  She asked as she struggled to walk towards her father who was at the center console.

“It’s called a gravity room for a reason,” he began as he casually walked over to one of the sides of the room.  “Welcome to 20 times normal gravity.  If we’re going to be in here, we’re at least going to use the room.”

“Twenty times?!”  Macey exclaimed.  “How are you walking around so easily?!”

Vegeta laughed as he sat down on the floor.  “This is nothing to me,” he told her.  “Maybe if it were 550 or 600 times gravity, it’d be a challenge.”

“Five-hundred and fifty?!”  Macey said in shock as she slowly made her way over to her father, and as she did, she slid down the wall, but because she was unable to control her body, the gravity slammed her to the floor as soon as she bent her knees.

“I thought 10 times would be too easy for you,” he told her as he watched her try to sit with her back against the wall, “so I put it on 20 times.  You should weigh about 2,650 pounds right now.”

“Then how did I walk all the way over here?”  She asked as she finally positioned herself next to her father with her back against the wall. 

“You’re a Saiyan,” he reminded her as he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.  “You’re stronger than you believe yourself to be.  So, what’d you want to talk to me about?”

Damn, Macey thought as she looked over at her father on her left side.  I should have figured out how to phrase it.  “What do you want in life?”  She hesitantly asked him.

“We’re supposed to be talking about you – not me,” Vegeta sighed in annoyance.

“We are,” she told him.  “The first night I stayed here, you told me that we aren’t that different,” she reminded him, causing him to open his eyes and look at the ceiling of his gravity room.  “So, what do you want in life?”

Vegeta chuckled.  “I highly doubt that our desires are the same thing.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what I want,” Macey began.  “Because of my past and the things I’ve done that I can never forgive myself for, I want to be that person who avenges those who have been harmed.  I need to be that person, and when I say that, I’m also talking about avenging everyone wronged by the assassins – every innocent person that has died by their hands.  I want to kill every single assassin that has taken the life of or harmed an innocent person – contract or not.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you get to choose the contracts you fought for?”  Vegeta asked as he looked over to his right at his daughter.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Then why didn’t you stay in the Order, carry out your mission to kill the Saiyans, and then continue on choosing the contracts that you wanted?”  He asked.  “If I’m going to be honest with you, then you have to be honest with me – why did you leave the Order?”

“I want to live the life that I feel like I deserve – the one that is owed to me,” she began quietly as she looked down at the floor.  “My entire life I’ve been controlled and ordered around by others – forced to follow and obey people that I’d much rather kill.  So, every time I would come to Earth either on assassinations or errands, I always saw how the Earthlings lived, and it made me realize that that’s the life I wanted – a normal, decent life.”

“You’re telling me things that I already know,” Vegeta scoffed. 

“Strength,” Macey said bluntly as she made eye contact with her father.  “It’s the real reason I didn’t assassinate the Saiyans.  Even though it would’ve been too easy to kill you and the others Saiyans, I’ve always wanted to learn everything from all of you.  Growing up and rising through the ranks – one of my goals was to be the strongest assassin that ever existed.”

“That doesn’t tell me why you left the Order.  That tells me why you didn’t carry out your mission, which again, I already knew.  Tell me the other reasons – I know there’s more than one.  If you’re going to sit here and hide things from me after begging me to be completely open and honest with you, then I’m going to get up and walk out of here.”  Vegeta shook his head as he saw through Macey’s guise.

“Agent Berry,” Macey said quickly and quietly.

“Who?”  Vegeta said as he tried to process the fast name that had been spoken.

Macey sighed.  “Agent Berry,” she said quietly and slower with disgust in her voice.  “He was the agent that ordered the assassination when I accidentally killed Pax’s boyfriend and her son; however, the contract wasn’t meant for them – it was meant for someone else named Damen Simos, but the address that was given to me was Pax’s boyfriend’s house.”

“So, it was a mix up,” Vegeta concluded.

“I refuse to believe that,” Macey insisted.  “The odds are too great, and when Nemei told us that Arikane goes by “Agent Berry” when he’s posing as an agent, it just fueled the fire inside me even more.”

“You think Arikane was the one who gave the botched contract while he was disguised as Agent Berry?”  Vegeta asked her.  “Why would he do that?”

“That’s what I need to figure out,” she said painfully, “and I knew that I couldn’t do that from inside the Order – the resources are too limited, and we’re only allowed to be away from Phonoi for no longer than a month.”

“So, what’s the problem?”  Vegeta seriously asked his daughter.  “Why talk to me about this?”

Macey took a deep breath in.  “How do I do it?”  She asked.  “You said before that we aren’t that different, so I’m asking you, how do I live the life I want, be the avenger than I know I have to be, become the strongest assassin, and hunt down Agent Berry and Arikane?  Nemei seems like she has everything together, and here I am with a 78% chance of being pregnant and unsure of what to do with myself.”

“Guess it’s my turn,” Vegeta sighed as he sat up and looked over at his daughter.  “I meant what I said when I told you that we aren’t that different.  When I was five, the planet that was supposed to be mine was destroyed by a tyrant named Frieza.  After destroying the planet and killing everyone on it, he took me and forced me to be a part of his army; however, at the time, I was told that it collided with a meteor, and it wasn’t until later that I found out what he had done.  Years went by, and I was forced to do whatever Frieza told me to do because his strength was far greater than mine at the time.  I was the Prince of all the Saiyans, and I got reduced to being a soldier under control of someone else – it was humiliating.  Then, one day, my partner and I came to Earth after Kakarot had defeated his brother, Raditz, because of our interest in the dragon balls – we wanted to use them for immortality.  However, after killing pretty much all of Kakarot’s friends who came to fight us, we learned that we had killed the one person that needed to be alive so that the dragon balls would work – Piccolo, but we also learned that there were dragon balls on the planet Namek.  A long fight between Kakarot and me ended with Kakarot beating me and sparing my life, which to this day, still enrages me.  I, the Saiyan Prince, was beaten by a man who didn’t even know he was a Saiyan until the year before.  While I was healing, I learned that Frieza had overheard our conversation about the Namekian Dragon Balls, and he was going to go to Namek to try to use them for himself, but I couldn’t let that happen, so I went there as well, and a war started.  That’s where I learned of the true fate of Planet Vegeta.  Much like you, I wanted revenge for all the wrong that had been bestowed upon me and my race, and I swore to myself that I’d kill Frieza, but then Kakarot came along.  In the end, I lost my life to Frieza, and Kakarot ended up avenging our race, which again, angered me – he had proven himself to be stronger than not only me, but Frieza as well.  During that battle, he became the Super Saiyan that I knew would exist one day, but I always thought that I would be the one to be the Super Saiyan.  From then on, I trained every day so that I could beat him, but even after becoming a Super Saiyan as well, he was and still is one step ahead of me.  So, much like you, I was lied to, ordered around, controlled by someone that I wanted to kill, and I wanted revenge for my abused race, but in the end, my chance for revenge was taken from me.  However, now, one of my goals in life is to become the strongest Saiyan and reclaim my spot at the throne – surpassing Kakarot in the process.”

“One of them?”  Macey cautiously asked.

“Don’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.  When I decided to come back to Earth after the Namek battle, I felt unsure of what to do with myself because Kakarot had gone missing, and no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find him, so I was unable to test my strength against him.  When he finally got back to Earth we were warned about a threat that would soon be coming our way – the androids, and so I had Bulma’s dad build me a gravity room so that I could intensify my training, and one day, I blew it up – injuring myself badly in the process.  With no Senzu Beans and no healing tanks, I was forced to stay on bed rest, but every day, Bulma sat right by my side and got me anything that I needed.  Soon after, I accidentally got her pregnant, and nine months later, Trunks was born.  However, all I cared about was training and becoming stronger than Kakarot.  We don’t want Trunks finding out about it, but about nine years ago, Trunks’ future-self, the one who warned us, came back to this time and helped us fight against these androids that wanted to cause mayhem,” Vegeta began.  “On the battlefield, I watched my son die,” he said as he began to get angry.  “Yes, the dragon balls can bring people back to life, but he still died in front of me, and part of me blamed myself because I allowed the enemy to become stronger, and part of me blamed Kakarot for failing.  The second that he took his last breath, I became infuriated – I charged our enemy without a second thought, but ultimately, I failed in avenging him.  After Gohan beat him, I thought less of myself as a father, a warrior, and an all-around person.  I had failed to stop the bastard who killed my son, and I wasn’t strong enough to kill the enemy that I admittedly had a hand in creating.  So, this is what leads me to my second goal – to kill every single Assassin that calls themselves an assassin.”

“How are those two things related?”  Macey confusedly asked her father. 

“I was unable to avenge my son who had died right in front of me, but I will make the assassins pay for everything they’ve done to you and Nemei,” he told her.  “However, I know that in order to do that, I have to become stronger – stronger than Kakarot – because starting a war with the Order will prove to be a challenge, and I can’t blow the planet up because the Earth will go with it.  So, if I can pull this off, not only will I make them regret everything they’ve done to the two of you, but I’ll also surpass Kakarot at the same time.  Then, I can live the life that I want to live – as the strongest Saiyan in existence.  So, in your situation, you want to live your life as a normal teenager, and I’ve helped you do that by being stricter with you, but you also have goals of your own such as being the strongest assassin and avenging all those who have been harmed.  So, I guess what I have to say to you is, ‘do it’,” Vegeta said.

“Just like that?”  Macey scoffed.  “There’s no way I can do all that – I have to pick one or the other.”

“You can accomplish both your goals at the same time just as I will,” Vegeta chuckled.  “If you become the strongest assassin, you’ll have no problem being the avenger that you want to be.  Just like if I take out the Order, I’ll surpass Kakarot and get revenge for you and Nemei.  As far as living the life that you want to live – I’ve given you that opportunity.  I’ve given you rules that are honestly pretty simple to follow, and I’m stricter with you than the other two.”

“I may have already ruined the life that I wanted,” Macey said in disbelief and anger towards herself.  “If only I hadn’t gone that night.”

Vegeta laughed.  “You didn’t ruin your life,” he told her.  “True, there may be a 78% chance, but if I’m being honest with you, you should know that my children and family have made me stronger than I could have ever possibly imagined.  Never in my life did I imagine having not only one, but three children, and I never imagined sacrificing myself to protect others, but last year, I blew myself up in an attempt to protect my family.  I’ve learned that if you truly desire or need strength, having and protecting people that you care about is enough to help fuel that fire.”

“I want to protect the innocent,” Macey said quietly as she leaned her head back and looked towards the ceiling. 

“So then do it,” Vegeta told her.  “If you want to live a normal life, go to school and be a normal teenager during the week, and during the weekend, be the avenger that you desire to be – you still have to do that contract that you picked out from the C.I.A., right?  So, do that this weekend, and when you’re not doing either of those, I’ll train you, and then you can become the strongest assassin and or Saiyan that you want to be.”

“And what about Agent Berry?  Or Arikane, or whoever the hell he is?”  Macey scoffed.  “Am I just supposed to forget about that?  And I want to help you in this war,” she told her father.  “The assassins have hurt so many innocent people, and I can’t let that go.  I need to avenge them.”

“That’s what I’m training us for,” Vegeta smirked.  “If we can take down an Order of hundreds of thousands of assassins on our own, then we’ll be the two strongest Saiyans to exist, and then Kakarot will be bumped down to third place.”

“Millions,” she corrected him, “but they aren’t all bad – I mean, look at me,” she laughed.  “I abandoned them, and I’m sure others will follow.”

“Then we’ll build an army,” he told his daughter.  “We’ll both get our revenge, I’ll surpass Kakarot, and you can live your life without having to worry about them coming after you anymore.”

“First, I want to find Agent Berry,” Macey insisted.  “I have to deal with him first – that’s my ultimate goal aside from getting stronger and taking down the Order.”

“I’m sure Nemei will probably get more information on Arikane – if you believe he could be the Agent Berry you’re looking for,” Vegeta assumed.  “The man does seem a little sketchy.”

“Yeah,” Macey quietly agreed, “and that’s another thing,” she began.  “Nemei seems to have everything in her life figured out – she knows what and who she is.”

“Nemei didn’t grow up like you did,” Vegeta told her.  “She was raised by the surrogate that gave birth to the two of you, so she had a parent in her life, but you didn’t.  You were raised by your psycho, older brother who brainwashed you into believing that you were created to assassinate the Saiyans; however, I refuse to believe that seeing her mother murdered at five years old, didn’t have a lasting effect on her.  I think she’s just very skilled at hiding it.”

“You might have a point,” Macey agreed.  “Also, I’m still not too sure about that brainwashing me thing.  I know Kaiser, and I know how he is.  Ever since I was old enough to know what my mission was, he pushed me towards carrying it out.  If he wanted them dead that badly, he would’ve done it himself – or at least he would’ve tried.  Just like Arikane would’ve.”

“What’re you saying?”  Vegeta asked as he felt confused by his daughter’s thought.

“What if neither of them really wanted the Saiyans dead?”  She asked.  “What if they were both puppets being used by someone else?”

“Kaiser and Ina wanted the Saiyans dead,” Vegeta insisted.  “Kaiser tried killing me when he was four, so it doesn’t surprise me that he held a grudge, and Ina – well, Ina probably wanted me dead in revenge for killing her, but how she was alive is beyond me.”

“Arikane too,” Macey agreed.  “Both of them were supposed to be dead,” she reminded him.  “So, let’s say that Kaiser and Ina both truly wanted the Saiyans dead, why not do it themselves?”  Macey began to brainstorm.  “If their hatred was that strong, they wouldn’t have hesitated – especially Kaiser – I know him.  He would’ve jumped at the chance.  What was the point of trying to get me to do it?”  Suddenly, after a few seconds of silent brainstorming, a feeling of realization came over Vegeta as he believed he had the answer to his daughter’s question.

“Fear of consequence,” he scoffed.  “I can’t believe it didn’t figure it out sooner.”

“What do you mean?”  Macey asked him, anxious to find out what he was talking about.

“During my time in Frieza’s army, one of the only reasons that I didn’t kill him was because I knew he was stronger than I was, and when I did try, he tortured me and then killed me,” Vegeta admitted to her.  “What if it’s the same concept?  What if they were told by someone who’s strength is far greater than their own not to assassinate the Saiyans, and because they feared the consequence, they obeyed.”

“But that didn’t stop them from trying to get me to do it,” Macey added on.

“Yes, but someone gave you the order to do it.  I read the folders.  Who gave you the contracts?”  Vegeta asked her.

“Queen Enyo handed them to me,” Macey said quietly.  “My whole life all she and Kaiser talked to me about was how my mission would be given to me when I was advanced enough.  They told me how it was my fathe – Arikane’s – dying wish.”

“I think I know who the mastermind is,” Vegeta chuckled.

“If Queen Enyo was really behind it, then she and Kaiser wouldn’t have told me that it was Arikane’s wish.  They would’ve told me that it was her wish,” Macey argued.  “They both seemed persistent about it.”

“That’s because everyone believed that Arikane was dead,” Vegeta reminded her, “so she was able to manipulate Kaiser into thinking that Arikane really wanted the Saiyans dead because she didn’t think Arikane would come back to life for anyone to ask him about it, and because she knew how Kaiser felt about us, she knew that he’d push you to do it.”

“But if she’s the one who really wants the Saiyans dead, why go through all of this?”  Macey questioned.  “Why have Arikane create Nemei and me?  Why wouldn’t she just have Kaiser do it himself?  And why would she convince everyone that it was Arikane’s dying wish?”

“The plot thickens,” Vegeta chuckled. “I think it’s time that we find Arikane and figure out what he’s hiding,” Vegeta said as he stood up, and right after him, Macey shot up.  “Well,” he chuckled.  “Look at that,” he said as he realized how easily Macey was moving around in 20 times gravity.

“What the?”  Macey said in surprise as she casually walked around with little resistance.  “How am I doing this?”

“You’re my daughter,” Vegeta laughed.  “My blood courses through your veins.”

“This is amazing,” she laughed as she started to move around more.  “Wow,” she said in awe.  “Do you think we can stay in here for a little bit?  I’m already wearing my workout clothes.”

“You want me to train you now?”  Vegeta asked in shock. 

“Absolutely,” she said in a determined tone.  “If I’m able to get use to this gravity this easily, God only knows what else I’ll be able to master.”

“Very well,” Vegeta smirked.  “Start with 300 push-ups and 300 sit ups.  Now,” he ordered her, and immediately and without argument, Macey began the task that had been given to her.

 

**Part 2 – Strength**

**“Sometimes you have to get knocked down lower than you've ever been to stand up taller than you than you ever were.” - Unknown**

 

 

 

            With her aching body that felt like it was going to fall apart, Macey slowly and carefully got out of Bulma’s car and slowly walked up the stairs into Orange Star High School.  As the cold weather hit her face, she was instantly warmed by one of the many new outfits she bought the day before.  Dressed in her brand new fuzzy, red and tan pea coat, with a white blouse underneath, a pair of brand new blue jeans, and tan calf-high boots that matched her coat, she instantly caught the attention of one of her friends as she walked by.

            Can’t wait to sit down, she thought as she began making her way to her first class of the day.  Today was Wednesday, so her first class was Math – or more specifically – Physics. 

            “Hey!”  Sharpner called out as he ran up to her and grabbed her right shoulder, trying to get her to turn around, but instantly, she let out a yelp that indicated that she was hurt.  “I’m so sorry,” he apologized.  “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” she said as she rubbed her shoulder and embarrassingly looked at him, “I’m fine.”  Why didn’t anyone tell me how awkward this was going to be?  Macey thought as she looked up at the attractive, long, blond haired guy.

“You weren’t here on Monday or Tuesday, and you didn’t return any of my calls,” Sharpner told her.  “Is everything alright?”

“Huh?  Oh.  Yeah,” she said in a horrible attempt at lying.  “Everything’s fine,” she smiled.

“Are you sure?”  Sharpner asked her with suspicion.  “You’re acting weird, and why do you have black eyes and black hair?”  He asked her.  “What happened to the purple?”

Dammit, Macey thought as she realized that she had forgotten to change her hair and eyes back.  I must’ve been so tired that I forgot to change it back.  “Oh,” she nervously chuckled.  “The purple eyes were contacts, and I just decided to dye my hair back to its natural color.”

“Well, I like this look much better,” Sharpner said in a flirtatious tone as he went to kiss Macey; however, he was stopped when she pushed him away from her.

“I uh, I have to go,” she said as she scampered off to her first class – ignoring all the pain in her body as she hurried down the hallway and entered her first class room.  Finally, she thought in relief as she opened the door and went to her usual seat in the very back of the class right next to Gohan.

            “Hey,” Gohan said with a smile.  “Haven’t seen you in a few days,” he joked.

“Yeah, sorry,” she replied.  “I’ve had a lot going on.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gohan quietly admitted.  “My dad told me everything.”

“He what?!”  Macey said quietly yet shocked.

“Well, I know why you’re here, and what happened at the park, and I know that you’re biologically Vegeta’s daughter,” Gohan quietly told her.

At least he doesn’t know too much, she said to herself.  “Just please, don’t tell anyone,” she pleaded as she pulled her notebook out of her backpack.  The day before, Bulma ordered her new textbooks, but they hadn’t come in yet, so she had to resort to writing everything down instead of her usual highlighting.  After class was over, Macey went to her usual spot during study hall, sat down, and began rewriting her notes.  Soon, she was accompanied by someone that she didn’t want to see.

            “Hey there,” Sharpner said in a flirtatiously as he sneaked up on Macey and sat down in the chair across from her. 

            “What do you want?”  She asked in a bothered tone as she refused to look up and kept writing her notes, but her hand was stopped when Sharpner put his right hand on her left.

“Why are you avoiding me?”  He asked with concern as he tried to figure out what was wrong with Macey.

“You know why,” she scoffed as she shook her head and looked at the table.

Suddenly, Sharpner realized what was wrong with her.  “I told you that we didn’t have to,” he quietly defended himself as he leaned over the table to try to make eye contact with her.  “I gave you multiple opportunities to back out.  You – you said you wanted to,” he stuttered.

“I know that,” she quietly snapped, “and I did, but you also told me that you had a condom.”

“What’re you talking about?”  He asked, sounding and looking worried and confused.  “I did wear one, I swear,” he insisted.  “I wouldn’t do that.”

“Did you?”  She laughed in disbelief.  “Then why did the pregnancy test that Vegeta made me take come back negative with a 78% chance of conception occurring?”

As he heard the words, Sharpner began to feel nauseous, and he could feel his heart began to race.  “Wha-what?”  He nervously said as he looked at the upset Macey.  “No, that can’t be.  It should be a zero percent chance.”

“Yeah,” Macey replied, still angry, “it should.  So why isn’t it?”

“I don’t – I don’t know,” he hesitantly got out.  “I swear to you that I wore one.”

“Yeah, well, now there’s a 78% chance that you’re going to be a dad,” Macey scoffed.  “So, congratulations,” she said sarcastically.  “We’ll know for sure in a week or so.”

“I uh, I need to go to baseball practice,” he said, still in shock by what he had just learned as he stumbled getting out of the chair. 

            After Sharpner left, Macey casually went back to writing her notes.  While sitting alone in the back of the library, she couldn’t help but to notice the eerie feeling that was coming over her the longer she sat there. 

My back is against the wall, so no one can get me from behind, she told herself as she tried to calm her rising heartrate and her increasing anxiety.  If anyone tries, I have a kunai in my boot, and I’ll have the upper hand.  The longer she sat there, the more her body began to shake, and writing became nearly impossible.  Stop shaking, she ordered herself as she dropped her pencil and held her shaking left hand while she closed her eyes and started to take deep breaths in and let them out.  A short time later, maybe about ten minutes or so, someone popped out from behind one of the bookshelves and slowly made their way to where the teenager was sitting – avoiding her sights because she was still focused on her breathing and trying to calm herself down; however, as they moved closer, Macey’s anxiety began to rise faster and faster at each step they took.

            “So,” they said as they pulled out the chair across from her and sat down.  “Only 78%, huh?”

No, Macey thought in pure fear, panic, and disbelief as she heard the sound of the voice across from her, and as tears began to fill her dark eyes, it took all of her strength to open them, and when she finally did, the tears that filled her eyes began streaming down her face faster and harder than a waterfall when she saw the person sitting across from her.

“I could’ve sworn that the drug I put in your drink plus the holes I put in his condoms were sure to give you a 100% chance,” the person sitting across from her laughed with a sadistic grin on their face.

“No,” she said quietly as she shook her head and tried to wake up from the nightmare that she was convinced she was living in, but nothing she did seemed to work.  As the terror and panic engulfed her body and her mind, she abandoned her notebooks and began to run out of the library, but as she went to go out of the doors, she heard the person with the ear-cringing voice call out to her. 

“I told you not to mess with me!”  They yelled.  “You’ve inconvenienced my life, so now I’m inconveniencing yours!”  Quickly, and without a reply, Macey ran out of the library, and sprinted down the hall into the girls’ bathroom with tears still streaming down her face, and as quietly crying became impossible, she twisted the lock to the six-stalled bathroom, walked towards the back wall, and slid down the wall with her back facing the window.  As she curled up and held her knees to her chest, all she could do was stare at the door and let her tears fall so hard and fast to the point that she instantly formed a migraine.  As she sat there and cried alone, all she wanted to do was go home, but she knew that if she skipped out the rest of the day, the C.I.A. would put a legal execution contract on her.  I’ve already missed two days, she told herself as she numbly stared at the door while her tears continued to fall.  I can’t miss three days in one week, then I’ll have more problems on my plate.  As she pulled out her phone, she noted that the time on it was 10:30 and that she only had half-an-hour until the bell rang to switch to the next class.  Dammit, she thought as she threw her head back and continued crying.  Why does this have to happen?  Why can’t I just have a stupid, normal life?!  She asked herself – trying not to yell out loud. 

            “Maybe if you had done what you were supposed to do in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened!”  The voice that Macey hadn’t heard in a while yelled at her, causing her to cover her ears and lower her forehead to her knees.

Shut up!  She replied as her heart began to break more, and the tears began to stream harder.  Just shut the hell up! 

“It’s not too late!”  The voice yelled.  “You can still fix all of this!”

Absolutely not!  She replied.  There’s no way I’d murder my own father!  I love my dad more than anyone!

“Come on Dea,” the voice said in a hypnotizing tone.  “Whom do you love more?  Yourself or that worthless, piece of trash Saiyan you call your father and claim to love?”  Instantly, overcome with anger, fear, and pain, Macey stood up from her sitting position and drove her fist towards the wall and shattered the large, wall-covering mirror which caused large cuts and massive amounts of bleeding on her hand and forearm, but thankfully, due to the pain that she felt on her left arm and hand, the voice quit trying to deter her from the path she had chosen.  As her hand and arm dripped with blood, she immediately ran it under cold water to wash the blood off; however, she noticed that the cuts all over her hand and forearm were too deep to stop bleeding.  I don’t have any Senzu Beans, he reminded herself.  I gave them all back to my dad – dammit!  What the hell was I thinking?!  After bouncing around some ideas in her head, she finally decided to rip open the paper towel dispenser, pull out all the paper towels she could, and gently, she made a custom cast that covered the cuts on her left hand and forearm that were caused by the broken mirror, but still, blood continued to seep through.  I have nothing to hold this with, she realized as the handmade cast wasn’t secured on her bleeding arm.  My brand new blouse, she thought as she looked at one of her new, favorite shirts she had bought only the day before.  Maybe a normal life really isn’t for me, she told herself.  I can’t even have normal clothes for more than a day.  Without another thought, she took off her brand new jacket and then her brand new blouse, and as she stood there in her bra, she took the kunai out of her boot and cut her blouse completely down the center so that it was a large, square shape.  Using her teeth and her right hand, she wrapped the blouse around her left arm that was still seeping blood, held one end with her teeth, and when she got to the end, she was able to tie the two ends into a knot – successfully holding and thickening the handmade cast.  There, she thought as the pain from her fresh wounds radiated through her body and caused her tears to start back up.  Now I don’t have a shirt, but at least it’ll hold until I get home.  She put her jacket on and buttoned it up all the way so that no one would be able to tell that she didn’t have a shirt on underneath, and she put her kunai back down into her boot.  Soon, the bell to switch classes rang, and Macey knew that the time for crying was over.  Angry and in pain, she unlocked the door, and once it was open Videl was standing on the other side of the door.

            “Woah!”  Videl exclaimed as she looked at the broken wall-sized mirror.  “What happened in here?”

“No idea,” Macey shrugged causally as she pushed past Videl and fought her urge to cry as she headed back to the library for her things. Luckily, her visitor from earlier was gone, and Macey quickly ran in and grabbed her belongings.  Only four more hours, she told herself as grabbed her stuff and headed to her next class.  In the middle of the hallway, she stopped, pulled out her phone, and texted Bulma.  The text read:

            “Please have my dad come get me after school.  Important stuff to do.  Need to be home in a hurry.”

“Send,” she said quietly to herself as she took a deep breath in and walked into her next class. 

Through her willpower and determination, Macey made it through the agonizing day even though questions were asked all day, and rumors began to spread around the school.  As she slowly walked out of the front doors of the school, she instantly looked to her left and saw her father leaning up against the building with his eyes closed and his arms crossed.

            “Dad,” she quietly cried as she ran over to him, and even though she wanted to, she knew that she shouldn’t hug him in public.  

            “What’s so important that you had me come get you?”  He asked in an irritated tone as he began to look down at her, but once he saw the tears beginning to accumulate in her eyes, he quickly lost his attitude, grabbed her notebook, and told her to get on his back.  Without argument, she did, and as they began the quick and cold fly home, Macey seemed unaffected by the weather and couldn’t do anything but cry silently on her father’s back for the entire, five-minute flight.  Once they landed at Capsule Corp, Macey jumped off of her father’s back and fell to the ground.  “Mace,” he said as he turned around and noticed her on her knees on the ground.  “What’s wrong?  What happened?”  Immediately, it became clear that she was losing consciousness, and when he went to pick her up and carry her inside, she let out a loud cry when he grabbed her left arm.  Without questioning it, Vegeta carried her – making sure to avoid her hurt arm, brought her inside, and laid her on the couch. 

            “What happened?!”  Nemei concernedly asked as she bolted from the table she was sitting at with her documents. 

“I’m not sure,” Vegeta admitted.  “She’s hurt.  Go run upstairs, in my room, and grab the box of Senzu Beans,” he ordered Nemei, and without debate, Nemei began to run up the stairs to get the beans, but her father stopped her when he noticed that Macey wasn’t wearing a shirt under her jacket.  “And bring one of my shirts too!”  He added.  “They’re in the same drawer!  Top left!”

Oh my God, he thought in disbelief as he looked to see what was wrong with the arm that caused her so much pain.  The paper towels that she had used were completely blood soaked, and her blood went through the blouse that she had used to keep them in place, and the inside of her new jacket was stained with her blood.  She must’ve cut open a vein. 

“Here,” Nemei said as she handed him the box with Senzu Beans and one of his green t-shirts.  “Oh my God!”  She exclaimed as she saw the bloody mess.  “What happened to her?!”

“I don’t know,” he answered as he pulled out one of the beans and held it up to Macey.  “Come on, I need you to eat this,” he quietly pleaded as he tried to get her to regain enough consciousness to eat the Senzu Bean, and unlike before, she was able to eat it, and her eyes began to open.  “Thank God,” he sighed in relief.  “Here,” he said as he handed her his shirt, “put this on.”  Quietly, and without arguing, Macey sat up, took her jacket off, threw her father’s shirt over her head and took off her makeshift cast – exposing the now-closed wounds that had once been fresh.  “Mace, hey,” Vegeta said as he tried to get her attention. “What happened?  Talk to me.”

“Yeah, Dea, we’re right here,” Nemei said as she sat next to her sister and across from their father who was now sitting on the coffee table across from them.  The questions that they were trying to get the answers to restarted the tears in her eyes and the pain in her heart.

            “It makes me sick,” Macey said quietly with disgust.  “Just thinking about it makes me sick.”

“What does?”  Vegeta asked her.  Macey’s body began shaking as she looked at the damage that had been bestowed on her body from when she broke the mirror, and as she trembled and cried silently overcome with fear, she finally managed to get the words out of her mouth.

“He’s not dead,” she said silently as tears streamed down her face. 

“Who’s not dead?”  Nemei asked.  “Dea, what’re you talking about?”

“Kaiser,” she gasped as she tried to catch her breath.  “He’s not dead.”  The four words that registered in Vegeta’s brain caused his anger to completely consume him, and his fists began to shake.  The anger that engulfed him was so strong that Macey and Nemei could both feel it, and while Macey paid no attention to it, Nemei couldn’t help but to focus on it. 

“What?!”  Vegeta yelled in rage and shock.  “What do you mean he’s not dead?!  I watched you stab him in the throat!  There’s no way he could’ve survived that!”

“Dea, are you sure?”  Nemei asked as she too was also in shock.

Macey nodded as she stared at the floor beneath her and looked at the blood soaked paper towels and blouse in front of her.

“I loved that blouse,” Macey said quietly, and the sound of the pain in her voice caused Nemei and Vegeta’s hearts to shatter.  “Everything I love or want is always taken away by him.  Why should I even try anymore?”  She scoffed.  “It doesn’t matter what it is – anything from the normal life that I want to a simple blouse – he has to destroy it all.”

“Macey, what happened?”  Vegeta said in an angry and demanding tone, and as Macey looked up at her fuming father with her tear-filled eyes, she told them exactly what happened.

“I was in the library during study hall, rewriting my notes, when Sharpner came in and talked to me,” she numbly began as she hugged her knees to her chest.  “I told him about the test I took, he walked out, Kaiser sat down, and when I got up to run out, he told me that he thought he had made it so that it would be a 100% chance by poking holes in Sharpner’s condoms and putting a drug in one of my drinks on the night of the party.”

“How did he even know about that party?”  Nemei curiously asked.

“It was a high school party,” Vegeta explained.  “He’s undercover as a teacher, so I’m sure he heard talk about it.”

“Yeah, but how did he know that Dea would be going to it?”  Nemei curiously asked her father.  Transparency, she thought.  Suddenly and without telling anyone, she used her Transparency, and even though she could only use it for a short amount of time, she was able to thoroughly search the Capsule Corp house.

“It’s my fault,” Macey scoffed as she laid her left cheek on her hugged knees.  “He probably got into the party using his Transparency and was more likely than not following us around, and when he saw us go into Sharpner’s room, he quickly poked a hole in his condoms so that he’d risk getting me pregnant.”

“What about the drug?”  Vegeta asked, still enraged.

“No idea,” she emotionlessly replied.  “It was probably a drug that increases fertility or something.  I didn’t stick around to listen.”

“That son of a bitch,” Nemei said as she shook her head as she came back from her search.  “Why would he do something like this?”

“‘You’ve inconvenienced my life, so now I’m inconveniencing yours.’,” she mimicked what Kaiser had told her.  “That was his reason.”

“What happened to your arm?”  Nemei questioned as she looked at the fresh scars all over her sister’s left hand and arm. 

“I ran to the bathroom, and out of anger, I drove my fist in to the wall-sized mirror, shattered it completely, but I ended up slicing my hand and arm up,” Macey explained, still in her emotionless tone.  “I knew that if I went to the nurse, they’d send me home and someone would look into it and me.  I knew that I couldn’t skip and come home because of the deal I made with the C.I.A., so I made a cast out of paper towel and my shirt, but clearly it didn’t hold.”

“I swear I’m going to kill him,” Vegeta said in disgust as he thought about everything Kaiser had done to Macey.  “The death I give him will be far worse than the one you gave him,” he said in a determined tone.

“He clearly can’t die,” Macey scoffed.  “I stabbed him in the throat and disintegrated his body, and he still came back.”

“But he can feel pain,” Vegeta argued.  “I don’t care how many times he comes back – each time he does, it’ll be a new torture.”

“What if Kaiser, Ina, and Arikane are all immortal?”  Nemei questioned quietly.

“Being immortal doesn’t mean you can’t die,” Macey argued still in her same tone.  “Immortality just means you can’t die naturally, but you can still be killed.  Invincibly means that you’re immune to any physical threat, but they’ve all died, so they’re not immortal or invincible.” 

“So then what the hell are they?”  Nemei angrily asked as she punched the couch cushion beside her.

“The definition, the look, the smell, the taste, and the personification of pure evil,” Macey said in anger as she got up from the couch and headed up to her room.  Nemei went to go after her, but she was stopped when Vegeta told her to just leave her alone for the time being.

“I’m leaving in the morning,” she said as she turned back and walked towards her documents.  “I need to figure out what Arikane is hiding – I have to help my sister.”  Still filled with extreme rage, Vegeta headed towards his gravity room, and upon entering he set the gravity to a challenging 600 times gravity, and for the next four hours, he used his anger and pain over how one of his beloved daughters had been treated to help him become stronger and train harder than he ever had before.  Being too angry, and having too many thoughts swirling around in his head kept him from strategically deflecting the attacks from his robots, and in the end, he ended up busting all of them to pieces and breaking the console again.  While he trained, Nemei was hard at work with trying to decode the impossible documents, but nevertheless, she refused to give up so easily.  Having decided to leave the next morning, she knew that she was one day closer to finding the translation and what Arikane was hiding.  And upstairs, Macey laid wide awake in her bed with no emotions running through her anymore.  Her heart had been broken to the point that there no more pieces to shatter, and she had cried to the point that there were no more tears for her to shed.

            Everything, she thought as she looked up to her ceiling.  Every single thing I love or want, he takes or tries to take away from me.  I want a normal life – not allowed.  I don’t want to assassinate the Saiyans – not acceptable.  I want to kill him – not possible.  Everything I love, he destroys or causes me to destroy.  She looked at her scarred up arm, and the only emotion that began to make its way back to her was anger.  It doesn’t even matter how small it is or how meaningless it is to someone else.  I swear he died.  I disintegrated his body – it was turned into nothing, as was Ina’s.  I’m willing to bet that if he’s back, she’s back too.  And I can’t believe what he did to Sharpner and me.  Just because I am an “inconvenience” to him, he decides to try to give me an inconvenience.  However, maybe he’s not completely to blame.  He didn’t make me sleep with Sharpner, and he didn’t make me go to the party.  But still, if he had just left me alone, I might not be maybe pregnant.  Dammit.  Feeling overcome with anger again the more she thought about it, she buried her head into her pillow in order to stop herself from screaming out loud.  Out of nowhere, a knock at her door interrupted her thinking, and before she could ask who it was, her father came walking in the door with a blue gift bag behind his back.

            “Another one?”  She asked in annoyance.

            “Well, if you don’t want it, then I won’t give it to you,” he told her in the same tone.  She looks even more depressed than before, he thought as he looked at Macey who seemed to have no emotion running through her; however, he couldn’t tell how much anger she was actually holding back.

“Fine, I’ll open it,” she said plainly as she took the blue bag from him.  “You know, I can tell that you’re the one who puts the tissue paper in these,” she said as she tried to lighten the mood, but it was easy to tell that Vegeta had one thing on his mind – revenge.  As she opened the bag, her heart that felt frozen in her chest started beating again when she looked inside.  Inside the bag that her father had given her was a brand new blouse – the same one that she had to cut up, a brand new jacket – the same one that had been blood stained, and a brand new backpack with brand new notebooks and pencils inside of it.  “Why did you do this?”  She asked quietly as she looked at her new stuff.  “Why do you insist on doing these things?”

“That son of a bitch has done nothing but take everything that you want and love away from you, so every time he does, I’m going to replace it, and I promise, I will find a way to make him stay dead.”

“We’ve already tried,” Macey reminded him through her teeth as the anger she was holding back began to seep out.  “I literally disintegrated his body – there was nothing left – clearly, he can’t die, so why even try?”

“Stop letting him win!”  Vegeta yelled in a rage as he couldn’t believe the kind of talk that was coming from his brilliant and skilled daughter.  “Ever since you came to Earth, you’ve been letting him take the things that you desire and prevent you from doing what you want.  You’ve allowed him to get inside your head and doubt your own strength and abilities and diminish your pride.  I never want to hear you say that something can’t be done.  You’re my daughter – a Saiyan from a royal bloodline – there’s absolutely nothing you can’t do.  I saw it in your eyes when you tried to kill me and again when I watched you cut Kaiser’s throat in half – you don’t know the meaning of mercy.  You didn’t hold back on trying to kill me or killing him, so why are you holding back on doing and taking what you want?  It’s time you harden your heart, start getting pissed off, and take the things that you want instead of moping around and feeling sorry for yourself.  If you want a normal life – then live one.  If you want to be the strongest assassin and avenger – then be one.  If you want to find Agent Berry – then find him.  If you want to help me win this war against the assassins – then train as hard as you can and then some, and if you want to want to get revenge on Kaiser – show him how it feels to be used just as he’s used you, and then rip his life away for good once we have a way to do it.  You still underestimate the strength of your Saiyan ancestry and just how much you’re capable of.  How much longer are you going to sit around and let him walk all over you?  How many more tears are you going to shed for him?  Each time you let him take something away or prevent you from doing what you want and don’t fight back, you’re submitting to him and giving him what he wants – letting him win without even trying.  Right now, you’re sitting here in your bed feeling sorry for yourself, and that’s exactly what he wants because it makes you weak.  What he doesn’t want is for you to become the strongest that you can possibly be.  If one of the things that you truly desire is strength, then him not staying dead, and him telling you that he tried to make it so that you would get pregnant should have given you even more of a reason to want to grow stronger, instead, you’ve allowed it to tear your pride down even more and doubt yourself more than before which is what makes him happy – he’s prevented you from getting what you want once again.  If it turns out that you are pregnant, then use your child that he tried to inconvenience you with as another source of your strength – remember what I told you yesterday – never forget but never repeat that.  So, how about instead of sitting here doing nothing, you take that anger and pain that he’s bestowed upon you and use it to become the strongest Saiyan and assassin that you can be, and instill fear in him just like he’s done to you?  Rather than living in fear of him, live the life that you want to live, and for once, avenge yourself.  You call yourself an avenger, but it seems to me that you need to be avenged, and I’m here to tell you that no one is going to do it for you.  As of right now, we may not know how to make him stay dead, but until we figure that out, start avenging yourself by inflicting damage on him.  Do any and everything that he keeps trying to keep you from doing, and watch how it tears him down bit by bit.  He’s your Frieza, and you can’t let him keep winning!” 

As he spoke, Macey’s hope and pride that had almost been completely destroyed began to come back as she saw the fire, passion, and determination within her father, and she felt like it was being transferred to her the more she listened to what he had to say, and for the first time, she realized how right he was.  “And once he’s gone for good,” Vegeta continued, “you’ll be amazed at just how strong you are compared to how strong you are now.  Because of your Saiyan blood, there’s no limit to the amount of strength you can acquire, and the challenges you will face will only make you stronger, but as long as you continue to let him walk all over you, make you doubt yourself, destroy your pride, and cause you to forget who and what you are, you will never be able to achieve the strength that you want, and you’ll find that you’re stuck trying to fix yourself rather than doing what you truly want to do and achieving what you want to achieve.  However, the choice is yours,” he continued as he started to walk towards her door to leave her room.  “You can choose to either sit here and mope around, or you can choose to rise above the challenges that are presented to you and take what you want from this world.”  When he went to reach for the door, he was caught off guard when he felt a giant gust of wind fill the room, and before he knew it, Macey had popped up on his right side, and she connected a left jab to the right side of his face – causing him to be pushed back against the wall to his left.  Then, another gust of wind filled the room, and faster than Vegeta could blink, Macey was standing inches away from him with her left fist touching the tip of his nose.  “There she is,” Vegeta chuckled as he saw the same look in her eyes as when she tried to kill him with The Reaper.  As he looked in her eyes, he could see the fire that had been relit and the determination that was driving her.

            “Training begins now,” she said with a smirk and a determined tone which relayed the message to Vegeta that she had chosen which path she was going to take.


	17. Chapter 17 - Training a Warrior / Macey and Sharpner

 

**Chapter 17**

**Part 1 – Training a Warrior**

**“I know what I'm capable of; I am a soldier now, a warrior. I am someone to fear, not hunt.” – Pittacus Lore, The Rise of Nine**

           

            Dressed in her workout outfit – a long sleeve, black spandex shirt, black workout leggings, her black and gray assassin boots, black half-face mask, black and gray belt, the white gloves and solid black vest that her father gave her, and her black hair tied back in her ponytail, Macey stood across from her father with her bow and arrows strapped to her back and a dagger on either leg.  As she stared down Vegeta, he could see the reawakened fire that was still burning inside of her, and the harder she looked at him, the more determined she felt and the prouder Vegeta was becoming, albeit he wouldn’t admit it. Out in the Gizard Wasteland, where Goku and Vegeta had their first battle, Macey stood atop one tall rock, and Vegeta stood on a taller one directly across from her. 

            “Hmph,” Vegeta snickered.  “I hope you’re not expecting me to go easy on you like I did last weekend,” he told her as he stood there with his arms crossed and looked down at his daughter who was more than ready to fight.

            “I would hope not,” Macey replied.  “If you plan on winning against me, then you can’t afford to take it easy.”

Vegeta chuckled.  “You’ve never battled a true Saiyan before,” he told her as he got into his traditional fighting stance.  “Let alone the Prince of All Saiyans.”

“And you’ve never truly battled an assassin with Saiyan blood in her body,” she smirked. 

“So then show me what you’re made of,” Vegeta challenged her.  “Convince me that you’re worth the Saiyan blood I gave you.  If you can fare against me, then you might just be worth training, and if I get a sliver of feeling that you’re holding back, I won’t hesitate to make you bring it out.  Right now, I’m not your father – I’m your enemy, and I’m trying to kill you.”

“Same goes for you,” she said in a cocky tone with a smile.  With her cocky smile on her face, she pulled up her half-face mask, and before Vegeta realized it, their battle had commenced. 

            Without warning, Macey went Transparent and jumped to the ground because she knew that she was unable to glide and use her Transparency at the same time.  Make him come to me, she began to strategize as she quietly and softly landed on the desert ground.  It didn’t take long for Vegeta to realize where she had gone because he knew that she couldn’t use both of her abilities at the same time.

Foolish, he smirked.  Making sure to stay low to the ground, Macey kept an eye on her father who was floating above while trying to find her.  Stealthily, she hid behind one of the rocks and pulled out her bow and arrow.  With one of her arrows aimed at her father, she waited until he turned his back as he continued to scan the area for her, and once he did, she fired her pulled back arrow at him.  However, Vegeta was able to sense the arrow coming towards him and moved out of the way just in time.  “Found you!”  He yelled as he went towards the direction that the arrow came from; however, he was still unable to see his Transparent daughter.  I’ve got to make her undo that stupid technique, he thought as he tried to get her to show herself.  I know she’s around here somewhere.  And he was right.  Hiding behind a rock a few feet away was Macey who was aiming another arrow at him.  Time for her to see what her father is truly capable of, he thought with a smirk as he realized what he was going to do.  Quickly, he went back up to one of the rocks and began blasting the rocks all around the area where the arrow had come from.

Just as I thought, Macey thought with pride.  Unable to stay on the ground anymore due to the rocks around her being blown to bits, Macey was forced to undo her Transparency, leap up, and glide to a nearby rock that hadn’t yet been destroyed.  Phase two, she thought as she landed on another tall rock near her father.  Without a second thought, she pulled out both of her daggers and leapt to the rock where her father was standing, and as she swung at him with her sharp blades, it put Vegeta on the defense, and he blocked her strikes as she attempted to hit him.  Then, once he figured out the pattern in her attacks, he caught both of her arms so that her hands her down by her sides, and her daggers were thrown to the surface of the rock due to her losing her grip on them because of the force that he yanked her arms with, and because she was far weaker, she was unable to break his grip.  Suddenly, Vegeta jumped up in the air, still holding her arms, and with his left leg, he hit her with a mid-air round kick to her left shoulder and sent her flying into one of the rocks.  As she sat in the cave that she created with her body, Macey’s smirk began to grow as what she had hypothesized was beginning to come true.  Phase three, she thought.

Well, Vegeta began to think as he saw how she had taken the blow, she’s tough – I’ll give her that.  A few moments later, after getting tired of her hiding out in the cave, Vegeta began to make his way over there.  “Again with this?!”  He yelled as he went over to the cave to look for his daughter whom he figured used her Transparency again and trying to hide from him.  “What did I tell you about holding back?!  You’ve yet to give me any sort of challenge!”  As he walked into the cave, an arrow came whizzing by him and went out of the cave.  “You fool,” he chuckled as he began to make his way to the back of the cave to corner his Transparent daughter.

Phase four, Macey told herself as her father got deeper into the cave.  “Well, well,” Macey laughed as she came up behind her father with a drawn arrow pointed at his back.  “Looks like someone is a little too cocky.”  Humored, Vegeta turned around only to feel a gust of wind and see his daughter now standing inches away from him with her arrow pointed at his face.  “Don’t you care to know how I did it?”  She asked, sounding proud.

“Please,” he scoffed.  “Enlighten me.”

“I’ve been planning this since we started,” she began.  “I’ve studied you and the Saiyans for years, so I know how you fight, so I knew that I’d have to trap you somehow.  The first phase was my test, I went Transparent, hid from you, and fired an arrow at you to see how you’d react, and you did what I expected you to.  You went straight for the direction that the arrow came from.  Then, I positioned myself on a rock close enough to you that I could leap over and start to attack you; however, I knew that you’d send me flying back, so I made sure that there was a rock close enough that I’d most likely land into and create a cave – for instance, this one.  That was phase two.  Then I had to make you think that I was in here hiding from you like before; however, I quickly formulated a trap, transparently got out of the cave, hid right outside, waited for you to get aggravated – which I knew would happen, watched you walk into the cave, and then I used my energy to pull the arrow that I had stuck in the wall so that it would appear that I shot it from inside the cave, and knowing you, I knew you’d get over cocky and believe that you had me cornered, when in reality, I cornered you.” 

“Hmph,” Vegeta chuckled.  “So, you trapped me.  Now what’re you planning on doing?”

“Well, if you were really my enemy, then I’d pull my arrow, and you’d be dead,” Macey said casually.

“What did I tell you earlier?!”  Vegeta yelled at her which caused the manmade cave to echo and explode.  “I am your enemy!”  Feeling like she had outsmarted him, she let go of her arrow, but she was caught off guard when he dodged it, grabbed her by the legs and flew her out of the cave – which caused her to drop her bow, and slammed her into another rock, causing yet another cave.  “Now who’s the one who’s too cocky?”  Vegeta laughed.  “Like I told you earlier, I’m more observant than you think.  I watched how fast your arrow flew past me the first time and compared it to how fast the one you pulled with your energy was, and I knew that the one that you manually shot was slower, so I knew how much time I had to dodge it from that close distance.  In formulating your plan, you showed your enemy one of your flaws.”  Feeling aggravated and being weaponless, Macey quickly picked her knees up, used the wall that her back was on as a base, and while she pushed against the wall with her palms, she kicked her feet out as hard and fast as she could and sent her father flying out and made him get stuck inside of a rock.  Without her bow, she had to rely on her energy to shoot her arrows that were still on her back.  As soon as her father crashed into the rock, she pulled an arrow out and shot it into the rock on the left side of Vegeta’s head.  Vegeta laughed.  “What happened to assassins not being able to use energy attacks?”

“We can’t use energy attacks,” she confirmed.  “However, my weapons are my weapons for a reason – any weapon that I use is linked to my energy as long as they were made from natural resources from Planet Phonoi and they’re in my possession.  Just like how Nemei was able to control her arm guards – I’m able to control my arrows, but I don’t prefer to because I’m much more accurate with an actual bow, it uses too much of my energy, and I try not to have my energy felt by my enemies.”

“So, I’m guessing that’s how you pulled the arrow out of the cave,” Vegeta scoffed.

“Well, aren’t you the smart one?”  She chuckled as she held the other five arrows in her hand and fired them all towards her father, but in the end, he was able to move away fast enough so that he wasn’t hit by any of them. 

“Thanks for the weapons,” he smirked as he caught all five of the arrows and hurled them towards his daughter; however, because her weapons are linked to her, she was able draw up one of her daggers and cut the arrows in half – causing them to fall to the ground and become utterly useless.  “Nice job,” Vegeta scoffed.  “Now you’re out of arrows,” he told her as the dagger landed in her hand.

“Right now, yes, but not in general,” she chuckled.  Instantly, she leapt over to the rock that her father was on and began to fight him with the single dagger that she had in her hand, and embarrassingly enough for Vegeta, she was able to land a few good cuts on him.  Annoyed, Vegeta waited for an opening, grabbed the dagger out of her hand, crushed it, grabbed her by the throat, and slammed her down to the ground.  While he looked at his daughter stuck in the crater that he had created with their bodies, he formed a large Big Bang Attack in his right hand and aimed it towards her.  Knowing what it was and that she couldn’t do anything about it, she resorted to calling her last dagger but as it made its way to her hand, Vegeta blasted it with his left hand and caused it to fall to pieces – leaving Macey completely unarmed. 

“You’re quick, and you’re exceptional at hand to hand combat – I’ll give you that, but this, you can’t outrun and no weapon will save you from it,” Vegeta told her.  “The only thing that’ll help you is if you can manage to summon up the energy that you need, and send it back to me as an attack of your own.”  Realizing that the fight hadn’t gone the way she wanted, she attempted to do as her father instructed her, but before she could figure out how, he fired the attack at her, but she soon found herself outside of the crater and out of the way of the blast.

            “Vegeta!”  A familiar voice yelled as the blast from her father calmed down.  “What do you think you’re doing?!  Are you trying to kill her?!”

            What the-?  Macey thought as she opened her eyes and looked up at the man yelling at her father.  “Goku, what are you doing here?!”  She angrily exclaimed once she realized that Goku had saved her from her father’s attack.

            “Yes, Kakarot,” Vegeta said through his gritted teeth.  “What are you doing here?!”

“I was on my way to Capsule Corp when I sensed a weird energy with your energy, so I followed it, and then I found you trying to kill your daughter,” Goku explained to Vegeta.  “What’s gotten into you?”

“He wasn’t trying to kill me!”  Macey exclaimed as she punched Goku’s left shoulder.  “He was training me!”

“Oh,” Goku chuckled.  “My bad.  Wait, so you know how to deflect those attacks?”  He asked, sounding excited.  “Wow, you must have been training hard lately!”

“No, I don’t,” she told him.  “That was the point.”

“Why are you still here?”  Vegeta demanded to know as he crossed his arms.

“Because Vegeta,” Goku began.  “I was on my way to Capsule Corp to try to find Macey.”

“What business do you have with her?”  He scoffed.

“Some guy texted Gohan and asked him to go look for Macey when he couldn’t find her at Capsule Corp or get a hold of her, but Bulma told him that she was out with you, and since Gohan was busy, he asked me to come look for her, so I was going to go to Capsule Corp to make sure you two hadn’t come back, but I found her here with you,” Goku explained and instantly the fear of Kaiser looking for her engulfed Macey’s body.

“What guy?”  She demanded to know as she hid her fear.

“Um,” Goku began as he scratched his head.  “I’m not too sure.  I think it began with an “s”,” he finally said.

“Sharpner?”  Macey guessed.

“Yes!”  Goku exclaimed.  “That was it!  But anyways, he’s apparently trying to find you, and he can’t get a hold of you.”

Macey scoffed.  “Of course he is.”

“And what does he want with her?”  Vegeta questioned.

“He told Gohan that he really needed to talk to her – he acted like it was an emergency,” Goku informed them.

Suddenly, Macey remembered the 78% chance of her being pregnant with Sharpner’s child thanks to Kaiser, but decided to ignore it.  “Well, it can wait until tomorrow,” she said.  “I’m trying to train with my dad.”  Sharpner probably wants to talk about what we’re going to do, but I don’t need that kind of distraction right now, she convinced herself to herself.

“Alright then,” Goku smiled.  “And hey, if you ever still want to train with me, you’re more than welcome.”

“Yeah, right,” Vegeta scoffed.  As Goku used his instant transmission to go back to his house, Macey continued her training with her father.

            “Do you think the percent has gone up or down yet?”  She quietly and shakenly asked her father as she walked up to him on the other side of the crater.

            “I think you need to not drop your guard so easily!”  He yelled as he swung a right uppercut to her and sent her flying, but this time, she was able to pull off a back handspring and land with her toes and her left hand on the ground as she slid backwards.

“Good,” Vegeta said proudly.  “You’re learning to control yourself instead of allowing your body to be thrown around like a ragdoll.”  While she was still in her low position, she quickly charged her father, and before Vegeta could blink, she connected a left hook to the right side of his face.  Looks like I might have something to work on, Vegeta admitted to himself as he wiped a trace of blood off of his lip.  She’s fast.  Sometimes, she’s faster than the eyes can follow – faster than my eyes can follow.  As night turned into early morning, five hours had gone by since they left Capsule Corp, and at one o’clock in the morning, they finally finished up their training, and Vegeta decided what he was going to do with her.  “You’ve got the will of a Saiyan,” he told her as they stopped to catch their breath before heading home.  “However, what a Saiyan needs control over is their energy – which you don’t have.  You can’t manage two techniques at once, you can’t use your energy to control your weapons accurately, and whatever you use to run as fast as you do, burns through more energy than you can put out.”

“So, what’re we going to do?”  She asked curiously. 

“You need to learn how to control and use your energy sparingly,” he began.  “If you could master using your Transparency as well as gliding or flying and using an energy attack at the same time, that would give you a great advantage.  And like today, you found yourself without your bow, and because of that you were forced to use your energy to shoot your arrows at me – that can happen in an actual battle, and since you might have to rely on using your energy to use your weapons, you should know how to accurately aim them with and without your bow.  And finally, I have to admit that you’re probably one of the fastest people that I’ve ever fought, but whatever you’re doing to move as fast as you do, it’s burning through more energy than your body can produce.  So tomorrow, we’ll start with the basics.  Clearly, you already have some control over your energy because you know how to use it to glide, but you have to learn how to fly.”

“I floated,” she shrugged.  “When I fell down that hole, I knew that I had to find a way out, and I was in so much pain that I just floated out of it.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he chuckled as he got up from the ground.  “Don’t expect me to waste time on simple techniques,” he continued.  “Tomorrow, you have two hours to master flying, and if you don’t, then I won’t train you anymore.  I don’t have time to waste on someone who can’t even fly.”

“I’ll get it done in an hour,” she bet with him as she jumped on his back. 

           

**Part 2 – Sharpner and Macey**

**“It's not hard to decide what you want your life to be about. What's hard, is figuring out what you're willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about.” – Shauna Niequist**

 

When Vegeta and Macey got back to Capsule Corp, they chowed down on some food, and then went their separate ways.  Vegeta went to his room that he shared with Bulma, and Macey went to her’s.  After taking a shower and changing into comfortable clothes, she laid down in her comfortable bed, curled up in her comforter, and reached over and grabbed her phone that was still sitting on her nightstand, plugged into the wall charging. 

            Should I even really look at it?  She wondered as she laid in her dark room and stared at the phone on her nightstand.  Even though the screen was black, she could already see the abundance of text messages and missed calls that would appear once she turned the screen on.  I know what’s going to be on it.  I’ll just talk to him tomorrow.  She rolled over so that she was facing her door and attempted to get some sleep, but the urge to check her phone was far too strong for her to ignore.  Just read them; don’t reply, she told herself as she rolled back over, unplugged her phone, and as she held the phone close to her face and turned the screen on, she saw that the lock screen was flooded with notifications that told her about her missed calls and unread texts.

 

Missed Calls from Sharpner (42)

Missed Calls from Gohan (2)

Missed Calls from Videl (3)

Unread texts from Sharpner (89)

Unread texts from Gohan (6)

Unread texts from Videl (8)

 

“Seriously?”  She said quietly to herself as she went to put in her passcode, and instantly, she got comfortable and began reading the text messages, and some of them read:

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 3:30 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: Macey, please text me back ASAP.  I’m sorry for running out earlier.  I’m just freaked out. 

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 3:48 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: You’re not answering any of my calls.  I’m so sorry for doing this to you.  I promise it was an accident. 

 

From: Gohan

Time: 4:57 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: Hey, Macey.  Sharpner called me and he seemed really freaked out which is really strange for him.  He said that something happened between the two of you, but I didn’t want to insert myself into your business, so I didn’t ask what.  Anyways, he told me that he’s sent you a ton of texts and has tried calling you repeatedly, but you haven’t answered any of them.  He seems really worried about you, so he asked if I could get you to talk to me at least.

 

From: Videl

Time: 5:23 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: Hey.  I don’t know for sure what happened with you and Sharpner, but I feel like I might have a pretty good idea, but anyways, he’s really worried about you.

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 6:18 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: Just got done at boxing practice.  Baby, please.  Please talk to me.  This is all a huge mistake.

 

From: Videl

Time: 6:45 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: Would you please just talk to him?  He’s starting to really get on my nerves. 

 

From: Videl

Time: 7:00 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: I’m pretty sure I know what happened between the two of you, but I don’t see why that’s any reason to ignore him.

 

From: Gohan

Time: 7:32 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: Macey, I’m really starting to worry about you.  Please let one of us know that you’re alright.  If you want to talk about it, I’m always here.

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 8:30 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: I just went by Capsule Corp, and Bulma told me that you were out with Vegeta.  I’m getting Gohan to come look for you.  Baby, I’m so sorry.

 

From: Gohan

Time: 8:47 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message: Sharpner just asked me to come and look for you.  Macey, he’s really freaked out.  Something bad must have happened because this isn’t like him.  I’m a little held up at the moment with homework, so I’m sending my dad to look for you.

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 10:49 PM

Day: Wednesday

 

Message:  Wow.  Training?  How can you seriously be training at a time like this?  I might have knocked you up, and you’re out training?  We need to figure out what we’re going to do.  This doesn’t concern just you.  Call me or text me back whenever you feel like it, I guess.

 

Before she knew it, she passed out, but she found herself awake at 3:30 AM and running to the restroom.  When she headed back to her bed, she couldn’t help but look at her phone sitting there with the screen off.  Curious to see if the father of her maybe child called her or texted her, she turned on the screen and saw one text notification that had been sent only minutes before. 

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 3:21 AM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: I can’t sleep.  Baby, I’m freaking out here.  What are we going to do?

 

Should I just let him sweat it for the night?  Macey asked herself as she realized that Sharpner was still awake and worrying.  I’m exhausted.  I don’t want to deal with this right now.  However, even though she didn’t want to, she couldn’t let Sharpner stay up all night and worry, so she replied for the first time.

 

To: Sharpner

Time: 3:34 AM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: Please, stop worrying and get some sleep.  We’ll talk tomorrow.  Goodnight.

           

After sending her one text, Macey rolled over and instantly fell asleep; however, as soon as she woke up the next morning at 6:30 AM, she felt her body aching from all the training the day before, and her stomach felt like it was in knots.  Ugh, she thought as she was exhausted after going to bed so late, and from her workout the day before.  Is it just me being nervous about actually talking to him about it?  She wondered.  She turned over and looked at her phone and saw that she had one unread text.

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 4:10 AM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: Thank God.  I’ll be at school at 7:30. If you’re there on time, meet me in the second floor library at your usual spot.

 

Ugh, an hour to get dressed and get there, she realized as she looked at the time.  Quickly and tiredly, she put on her makeup so that she could cover her large scar on her face, put on a pair of sweat pants, a hoodie, and a pair of tennis shoes.  She threw her hair up in a bun, grabbed her things and headed out of the door with Bulma.  I guess my dad hasn’t told her what’s going on yet, Macey thought during the car ride.  As they pulled into the parking lot, the time was 7:35, and butterflies began to build in Macey’s stomach as she got out of the car and began to walk into the building.  I know he’s up there, Macey told herself as she looked at the second floor library window.  After taking a deep breath in and trying to calm her stomach, she walked through the front doors and made a bee line up the stairs before she talked herself out of it, and as she walked into the library, her nausea became worse, but she could see her long blond haired, muscular friend sitting in the back corner with his back facing the door.  Here goes nothing, she thought as she let out a deep breath and walked over to the table.  As she got closer, she could see some objects in front of Sharpner, and once she was close enough, she could tell that there was a large bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolate, and a small stuffed bear.

            “Hey,” she said quietly and nervously as she sat down in the seat across from him.  As she looked at him, she could tell that he hadn’t slept all night.  His usual jocky personality was replaced with exhaustion, and his usual cocky tone was quiet and serious.  “So, uh, what’s all this?”  She asked as she looked at the flowers, chocolates, and the bear on the table.

            “It’s for you,” he said as he pushed the gifts closer to her.  “I have no idea what to do.  There’s only a 22% chance that you’re not pregnant.  I swear that I wore a condom.  I wouldn’t do something like that.  I’m not trying to have a kid yet.”

“Thank you,” she said as she put the chocolate and bear in her backpack.  “And there’s nothing we can do,” Macey told him as she laid her hands on top of his.  “I know you wore one; I trust you on that, but I can also tell you that it’s not your fault.”

“Not my fault?”  He said in disbelief.  “How is it not my fault?”

“It’s a long and very complicated story that I don’t have time to explain right here and now,” she told him.  “Come with me after school back to Capsule Corp, and we’ll talk there.  I’ll tell you everything.”

“How long do you think it’ll take before we know for sure?”  Sharpner nervously asked her as he took one of his hands out from underneath her’s and held her right hand.

“A couple weeks – maybe a month,” she told him with sincerity in her voice.  “Listen, I’m just as scared as you, but all we can do is wait.”

“I need to come clean about something,” Sharpner admitted.  “Gohan didn’t suggest that I invite you to the party,” he began.  “I invited you on my own.  I only told you that Gohan suggested that I invite you because I heard from Videl that you were trying to get with him, so I figured the only way you’d come is if you thought he wanted you there, but in reality, it was me that wanted you there.  If I had never invited you, then this wouldn’t be happening.”

Macey chuckled.  “The reason I agreed to come was for neither you nor him, and I’ll also tell you why I came when we talk later.”

“Right,” he said, still sounding nervous and fearful.  “So uh, I’ll drive us to Capsule Corp after school,” he told her.  “Just meet me out in front of the school.”  After agreeing, the two shared a passionate yet awkward hug before Sharpner left the library to head to his first class. 

Oh my God, Macey thought as Sharpner left the room.  If Kaiser is still working here, then I have to see him today. 

 

To: Bulma

Time: 7:48 AM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: Don’t worry about picking me up after school.  I have a ride.

 

Alright, Macey thought as she put her backpack on her back and carried her large bouquet in her left arm.  Time to make it through the day. 

            “Macey,” someone hissed at her as she walked past the girls’ restroom on the way to class, “come in here.”

            “Huh?  Videl?  What’re you doing in here?”  Macey curiously asked as she stood in front of Videl.

“Is it true?”  She asked quietly and in shock.  “Are you – well – you know – are you and Sharpner having a -,”

“Who told you that?”  She angrily hissed back at her as they both tried to keep their voices down.

“He did,” she told her.  “He’s terrified.  I’ve never seen him so shaken up.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t know anything for sure yet,” Macey informed her as she went to walk out of the bathroom.  “There’s only a 22% chance that I’m not though.”

“Hang on,” Videl said, stopping Macey from walking out.  “Here,” she said as she handed her a piece of paper.

“What’s this?”  Macey asked as she began to read it.

“My observation and interpretation of you,” Videl quietly began.  As Macey remembered the assignment that Kaiser had given her Psychology class, she became infuriated when she began reading the paper.

“‘…and from watching Macey Evans and Sharpner enter the bedroom and locking the door, I can only deduce that Macey is easy and will do anything for a guy.’  Are you kidding me?!”  Macey exclaimed in anger as she crumbled up the paper and threw it in the trash bin.

“That’s why I gave it to you,” Videl defended herself.  “I’m not going to turn that in – especially now that I feel somewhat responsible for what’s happening to you.  You were way too drunk to be doing that – I should’ve stopped you.”

“Wait,” Macey said in a calmer tone.  “You were following us, and you watched us go in his room.  Tell me, did you see anyone else go in there before we did or right after?”

“No,” she answered.  “I didn’t stay very long because Gohan was trying to get me out of there.  Why?”

“Damn,” Macey scoffed.  “Never mind.  It doesn’t matter.”  Was she really going to turn that paper in to Kaiser?  Macey wondered as she stormed out of the bathroom.  While she was walking to her class, she couldn’t help but to notice all of the students looking at her, and because of her enhanced senses, she could hear their whispers. 

            “I hear the new girl’s pregnant by Sharpner,” one boy laughed among his friends.

            “Did you hear?  Sharpner knocked the new chick up,” one girl and her group of friends snickered.

He has got to quit telling everyone, Macey angrily thought as she turned the door knob to walk into her first class of the day – Science.  I have three hours until I have to see Sharpner again, she told herself as she sat down at her lab table with her group, but as she sat down, she could feel their eyes glued to her. 

            “So, is it true?”  One girl asked.

            “Yeah,” a guy added.  “I heard it happened at the party last Friday.”

            “I think she’s faking it,” another girl scoffed.  “There’s no way she’d know this soon.  She’s just trying to get Sharpner to stay with her.”

As they three students debated, Macey began to become annoyed and angry, but instead of blowing up at them, she sat quiet with her eyes closed and tried to keep her composure.  How dare they?  she angrily thought.  They have no idea what’s going on or what really happened.  “We don’t know for sure yet,” she told them – effectively interrupting their debate, “so stop talking about it.”  After she got done with her science class and learning about DNA replications, she started to walk from the back of the room where she sat and out of the front door, but once she got to the front of the room, she was stopped by none other than Gohan.  I’ve really got to see about getting my schedule changed, she told herself. 

            “Hey,” he said quietly as he walked up to her.

“What is it?”  She asked him, sounding irritated and annoyed.

“Wow,” he chuckled.  “I guess you really are Vegeta’s daughter,” he told her as he tried to joke around, but obviously, she wasn’t in the mood.  “You had us all really worried last night,” he said as he realized that she wasn’t in the playful mood.  “I’ve been hearing rumors going around about you and Sharpner and how you’re –,”

“Might be,” she sternly corrected him before he could spout the wrong sentence.  “We don’t know yet, but yes,” she said quietly as everyone else in the class walked out and left the two of them there.  “The test my dad made me take came back with a negative result and a 78% chance of me ending up pregnant in the next few weeks or so.”

“He must be furious,” Gohan said in a serious tone.  “I mean, knowing Vegeta, he’s gotta be itching to get his hands on Sharpner.”

“He is angry,” Macey told him.  “Just not at Sharpner – that much – but I don’t have time to explain all of this right now.”

“Well, can you at least tell me why you did that?”  Gohan asked her.  “I mean, if I had known you were going to go into his room with him, I would’ve stopped you.”  Suddenly, Macey remembered the conversation that she and Sharpner had just moments before he led her upstairs to his room.

“Just because,” she shrugged – hiding her true reason.  “We were both drunk, and it seemed right.”

“Well, at least if you are, you’ll have no trouble financially,” Gohan nervously chuckled.

“Wait, why did you emphasize ‘financially’?”  Macey asked with suspicion. 

“Uh, well,” Gohan nervously began.  “Sharpner is kind of – well – he’s a player.”

“Player?”  Macey scoffed with disbelief.

“Yeah,” Gohan confirmed.  “As in he’s dated a lot of girls – he was even obsessed with Videl for a while.”

“What?”  Macey asked as her breath escaped her.  “Are you serious?”  She asked Gohan as she tried to conceal her anger from what she had just learned.  Wow, she thought.  So, I might have gotten knocked up by the player.  Way to go, Macey.

“I’m sorry,” Gohan said apologetically, “but if you ever need someone to talk to, you’re more than welcome to talk to me.”

“Thanks,” Macey said quietly as she hid her anger and hurt feelings as she made a beeline for the door.  As usual, she went to her spot in the library to rewrite her notes and try to take her mind off of everything, but the reoccurring nausea in her stomach kept reminding her of the 78% that was clearly not on her side.  Dammit, she thought as she set her pencil down and laid her head in her hands.  I can’t focus when I feel like I’m going to puke. 

            “Well, well,” a familiar voice said as they walked into the library and headed towards Macey.

Damn, she thought as she saw her despicable older brother heading towards her.  Such a creepy, sadistic smile on his face – how dare he have the nerves to come in here so nonchalant.  I have to remember what my father said.  I can’t be afraid of him, but I have to convince him that he’s hurting me.  It’ll make him overconfident.

“So, how ya feeling?”  Kaiser asked in a condescending tone. 

“What do you want?”  Macey said in a disgusted tone.

“My, my,” he chuckled as he smiled and leaned back comfortably in his chair.  “It looks like hormones are starting, huh?”

Come on Macey – sell it, she commanded herself.  “Why are you doing this?”  She asked him quietly as she forced herself to collect tears in her eyes.  “What could I have possibly done that’s so terrible for you to ruin my life like this?”

“Awe, sweet baby sister,” Kaiser said in a forced, caring tone as he stuck out his bottom lip and looked at the fake tears in his sister’s eyes.  “I’ve already told you,” he began in a fake, kind tone.  “I warned you not to mess with me,” he said quietly, “and then, you killed me.  So, I guess you could call that a reason even though I had drugged you before then.  As for the other reasons, you already know.  You refused to do the mission that was bequeathed to you which has caused me to be stuck here on this miserable planet because Queen Enyo refuses to let me come back and insists that I still babysit you.  You keep believing in this fantasy that you’re going to have a normal life, but I’m here to tell you that your life is your life – it’s chosen for you – you don’t get to choose your path, and so, to prove that to you, and to show you that this ‘normal perfect life’ that you desire so badly can’t be achieved, I chose to sabotage the night that you lost your virginity, and ruin your ‘normal’ life before you could even really start it.  Besides, consider yourself lucky.  I was six when I was forced to raise you, at least you’re fifteen and have some clue about life.”

“It’s not just my life you’ve ruined,” she said as the fake tears streamed down her face.  “You’ve ruined Sharpner’s as well.”

“The ends justify the means,” he grinned.  “However, if you decide that what I’ve done is too big a burden and inconvenience for you, I can always undo the effects of the drug that I slipped in your drink.”

“What?”  Macey asked as she continued her façade, but she couldn’t help but to be genuinely shocked at the same time.  “What do you mean?”

“The drug I gave you increases fertility.  It makes the woman who takes it able to get pregnant right after ingesting it until two weeks later when it finally wears off.  It also speeds up the time that it takes for an egg to be fertilized.  However, you should’ve had a 100% chance right off the bat a few days after you slept with him, but I’m guessing that since you have Assassin and Saiyan DNA it takes a little longer; nevertheless, it worked perfectly nine years ago, but I’m assuming that it was because she was a human.  Anyways, every drug has a reverse to it,” he told her.  “So, if you were to agree to my deal, then I’ll undo the effects of the drug, and your percentage will drop back down to about 15% or so – because I mean, I can’t take his stuff out of you, so that could still go either way.”

“What deal?”  Macey suspiciously asked. “And who else have you done this to?”

“I want the Saiyans dead,” he said in a stern tone as he stood out of his chair.  “I want their heads cut off and brought to me, and I want their bodies disintegrated so that the dragon balls can’t bring them back.  Every single one of them – even the kids’ and Nemei’s.  I know you well enough to know that you’ll need time to consider it, but I need an answer by the end of the day.  You only have two weeks until that drug is worn off and unable to be reversed, and it’s already been six days, so if you were to accept my offer, you’d have seven days to complete your end of the deal.  I’m not stupid enough to give you what you want in advance – I know the games you play.  However, if you do this, I promise to stay out of your life for good.  And, if you really want to know, ask Bulma and your father how Trunks was conceived.”  Feeling angry and disgusted, she watched as Kaiser walked out of the library in his usual teacher outfit – his black suit. 

He can’t be serious, can he?  Macey wondered in disbelief.  Kill every Saiyan, cut off their heads, and disintegrate their bodies in order to get the effects of the drug undone, she repeated Kaiser’s deal to herself.  I would have to kill my own family – my father, little brother, and twin sister – just to have a chance of a normal life.  That bastard, she scoffed.  As of right now, there’s still a 22% chance that I won’t be pregnant, but if what Kaiser said is true, it might be at 100% in eight days, but by that time, it’ll be too late to have the drug undone.  Quietly, she sat in her chair with her eyes closed, and inside her mind, she could see the innocent faces of Trunks, Goku, Gohan, and Goten, and she saw her twin sister and father looking at her with determination in their faces.  My dad told me to do whatever I have to do to get what I want out of life, but I just – I just can’t do it.  I’m sorry, Sharpner, dad, everyone – I just – I can’t sacrifice their lives that they’ve worked so hard to build just so I can have a normal life.  If I eliminated all of them, then I’d have no one beside me like I do now – I’d be completely alone.  My dad, little brother, and Nemei would all be gone for good.  Right now, my life may be far from normal, but at least I know I have them.  I just can’t bring myself to become the monster than I’m trying to erase from the world – that’s what I want more than anything.  And if I took them all out, I’d have no one to train me and help me become the strongest that I can be.  All we can do is hope that the drug Kaiser gave me doesn’t work, and the 22% is in my favor, or perhaps Bulma could come up with something.

            Before she knew it, the bell rang, and it was time for her next class – Physical Education.  Great, she thought as she gathered her backpack and the bouquet of flowers and headed down to the locker room.  Now I have to see Sharpner.  After making her way to the locker room while ignoring the whispers and laughs in the hallway, she put her backpack and bouquet of flowers in in her locker, changed into her P.E. clothes, locked her locker, and walked out onto the field where the class met.  Suddenly, as she was standing around with the other students with her arms crossed, Sharpner came up next to her and playfully bumped her shoulder.

            “Hey there,” he smiled at her as he wrapped his left arm around her and placed his hand on her left shoulder, but he became shocked when Macey jerked herself away from him with her arms still crossed. “Hey, what’s gotten into you?”

Macey, who was still upset about learning how big of a player he was, couldn’t help but to laugh at the sound of the question.  “Seventy-eight percent of me says, ‘your child’,” she scoffed.  “What’s gotten into you?”  She counter-questioned.  “Why are you so giddy all of a sudden?”

“I’m not,” he denied in a slightly angered voice.  “I’m just trying to stay positive for the both of us,” he told her.

“Right,” she chuckled.  “Are you sure it’s not because you have a date this weekend or something?”

“What?”  He asked, sounding offended.  “What are you talking about?”

“I just heard a little rumor about you, and I found out how big of a player you are,” Macey scoffed.  “So, is that all I was to you?  A game?”

“What?  No!”  He denied, catching the attention of everyone around them.  “I mean, yeah, I’ve had a lot of girlfriends, but it’s not like that now,” he said as he lowered his voice down so that just the two of them could hear what he was saying. 

“Why?  Because you most likely got me pregnant?”  Macey hissed at him.  “Is it because you feel bad?”

“No,” he denied again.  “The first time I saw you sitting in the library, I knew I had to do whatever it took to be with you, and I don’t mean in that way.  I think that you’re one of, if not, the most gorgeous girl in this entire school, and when I saw how you caught Videl’s punch and broke her wrist, I knew you were strong, and I like a strong girl.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see how true that is when we get the definitive result,” Macey scoffed.  As the coach came out, he told everyone that they were playing baseball, and everyone got into two teams, and Macey and Sharpner ended up on the same team. 

            “Awe, how adorable,” one girl chuckled as she walked over to second base to get in position. “The parents are on the same team.”

The first team up to bat was the team that Sharpner was captain of.  Macey, due to being as fast as she was, managed to hit three home runs back to back.  By the time her fourth bat came around, their team had two outs, and the other team was determined to get their third out on this turn. 

            “Hang on a second,” Macey said, sounding breathless as she got to the batter’s box, squatted down so that she was close to the ground, and closed her eyes as she tried to ignore the sick feeling that had come over her.  Please, not here, she begged herself as she tried her hardest not to throw up. 

            “Hey, Macey,” Sharpner said as he walked over to her and tried to get her attention.  “Are you okay?”  He asked as he knelt down level to her and tried to get her to look at him.  “Talk to me.  What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said as she managed to get the nausea under her control.  “I’m fine,” she said as she stood back up.  “Okay,” she said to the pitcher as she got back to her feet and Sharpner headed back over to the bench to sit down and wait for his turn next.  “I’m good.”  However, when the pitcher went to throw the ball, the nausea feeling came over Macey again and caused her to lose focus, and instead of hitting the ball with her bat, the ball hit her above her left eye and caused a giant gash to form.  After she let out a yelp due to the surprise and pain from being hit so hard unexpectedly, she placed her hand over her gash and tried to get it to stop bleeding.  Worried, everyone came running to her to make sure she was okay, but while everyone seemed to be worried about her, one person was fuming – Sharpner. 

            “Are you kidding me, Rayo?!”  He yelled at the pitcher who had hit Macey.  “What were you thinking?!  Clearly, she wasn’t ready!”

            “I’m sorry, Sharpner,” Rayo apologized.  “It was an accident.”

“Sharpner, I’m fine,” Macey insisted as she continued to hold her hand over her gash.  However, Sharpner didn’t seem to hear her.

“Do you not realize that she could be carrying my child?!”  Sharpner yelled back at Rayo which caused Macey to be surprised.  “If she is, then you could’ve hurt them both!”  Without another thought, Sharpner swung a left hook at Rayo – knocking him out instantly. 

            “Do you need to go to the nurse?”  The coach asked Macey.

“No,” she answered.  “I just need to go wash it out, and I’ll be fine,” she told him.

“Well, alright then,” the coach agreed.  “Videl, go with Macey and help her wash out her wound,” the coach instructed Videl.

Great, Macey thought sarcastically as she and Videl began to make their way inside the locker room to go to the bathroom.

“And you, Sharpner,” the coach said as he turned his attention to the angered maybe-soon-to-be-father.  “Go to the principal’s office, and he’ll decide what to do with you.  I’m radioing him now about the incident and getting the nurse out here to check on Rayo.”

“Whatever,” Sharpner scoffed as he stormed off of the field and towards the main building.

            “Wow,” Videl chuckled in disbelief as she leaned against the sink that was next to the one that Macey was using.  “That was intense,” she said as she watched Macey clean her wound.

“It was uncalled for,” Macey argued.  “I told him that I was fine.”

“Well, I gotta tell ya – I’ve never seen Sharpner act like that before,” Videl informed Macey.  Uninterested in talking about the event that just occurred, Macey continued to use a wet paper towel to clean her gash, but she was unaware that the water was washing the makeup that she used to cover up her scar over her eye.  “Woah,” Videl said quietly and in surprise as she looked at the scar running down the assassin’s face.  “What happened?”

Dammit, Macey thought as she realized that her scar was showing.  “It’s a long story,” she said quietly, “but now I don’t have anything to cover it back up with,” she scoffed and shook her head.

“I have some makeup in my backpack,” Videl told her.  “It might be a little light for you, but you can try it if you want.”

Before Macey could reply, she began to feel nauseous yet again, and she put her hands on either side of the sink to try to keep herself together as she looked at herself in the mirror, but this time, she couldn’t hold it in.  Quickly, she turned around and went into one of the bathroom stalls behind her, got down on her knees on the floor, held her own hair back, and let everything out.  Concerned, Videl went into the stall, knelt down by Macey’s side, and held her hair back for her as Macey continued.  Goodness, Videl thought in sympathy as she watched her former enemy, she must feel so sick.  I can’t even imagine what she’s going through and what she’s been through. 

“Thank you,” Macey said as she finally finished, stood back up, and flushed the toilet. 

“Yeah, no problem,” Videl quietly replied as she continued to feel bad.  “Listen, I’m really sorry about all that -,” Videl began before being cut off.

“I don’t care,” Macey said as she washed her mouth out.  “I literally have a million other things to worry about.  Our little fight never meant that much to me anyway.”

Videl walked out of the bathroom, went to her locker, and pulled out the makeup that she had in her backpack as well as a band aid to go over the gash.  “Here you go,” she said as she handed it to Macey, and just as she predicted, it was a little bit too light, but as long as it covered up her scar, she didn’t care, and even though she knew it’d look ugly on her face, Macey put the band aid on the gash. 

“I guess it’s good enough,” Macey concluded as she finished putting the makeup on her face and walked over to her locker to gather her things.  By the time she got over to her locker, the rest of the girls in the class had come in due to the bell ringing in the next five minutes.

“Wow,” Videl smiled as she watched Macey take out the bouquet of flowers.  “He bought you flowers?”

“What about it?”  Macey said in an indifferent tone as she began to change her clothes.

“It just seems like he really likes you,” she told her.

“Yeah, because that has a lot of meaning behind it,” Macey scoffed.  “God only knows how many girlfriends he’s had.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Videl agreed while she finished getting dressed, “but I’ve never seen him treat any of them this way.”

“It’s probably because there’s a good chance of me being pregnant,” Macey said quietly as she rolled her eyes and headed towards the door to go back into the main building.

“Yeah, speaking of which, how are you showing symptoms this early on?”  Videl curiously asked as she walked with Macey to lunch.  “It’s only been like six days.”

Macey scoffed.  “It’s a long and complicated story, and I’m not sure I want you to know,” she told her.

“Well, fine then,” Videl replied, sounding slightly offended as the two of them walked into the cafeteria.  “I didn’t want to know anyways.”

            Ugh, Macey grumbled to herself as the aroma of the cafeteria made her feel nauseous again.  All of this food just smells so horrible, but I know I have to eat, she told herself.  As she walked up to the concession stands, Videl went to sit with her group of friends, and Macey could still feel the stares and hear the whispers behind her back.  Finally, after deciding on a concession stand, she bought a hamburger with a side of fries and vegetables with a water to drink.  However, when she went to go look for somewhere to sit, she was taken back when no one would allow her to sit with them.  What the hell have I done to these people?  She wondered as she looked for an empty table to call her own.  Great, she thought sarcastically as she noticed a table in the very back corner that had no people at it, but it was filthy with trash on it.

            “Hey,” Sharpner said as he came up behind her and grabbed her right shoulder – stopping her from walking over there.  “Come sit over here with me and the boxing club,” he told her, and without a reply, even though she didn’t want to, she followed him over to the table that was filled with the buff, workout jocks.  “Hey, guys,” Sharpner said as the two of them sat down.  “This here’s Macey,” he began to introduce her to his group, but instead of saying anything, they all just looked at her.  At the table, there were a total of six other students – not including Macey and Sharpner, two girls and four guys. 

            “So,” one girl said quietly as she broke the tension.  “Have you two picked out a name yet?”  She nervously asked, which caused Macey to shoot her a glare.

“No,” Sharpner answered with annoyance in his voice.  “We don’t even know for sure yet if she’s pregnant.”

            “So, what’re you guys going to do if she is?”  One of the guys asked.

“Uh,” Sharpner began as she looked towards Macey whose anger was starting to rise more and more.  “We haven’t figured that out yet.”

            “What do your parents think?”  The other girl asked in anticipation for their answer.

“They uh, they don’t know yet,” Sharpner nervously answered.  “I don’t want them to know until we know for sure.  Macey?”

“My dad’s pissed, and my stepmother doesn’t know,” she answered angrily as she got up and stormed out of the cafeteria, causing everyone to look at her.

Dad?  Stepmother?  Sharpner thought as the doors closed behind Macey.  But I thought that they were just her adoptive parents?  “I’m gonna go check on her,” Sharper said as he picked up Macey’s stuff – her backpack, bouquet, and her food.  Knowing her, she’s probably run up to the library, Sharper told himself as he headed up the stairs.  As he was walking down the hallway, he ran into one of the teachers and was stopped.

            “Hello, Sharper,” the teacher said, “you know the rules – no food outside of the cafeteria.”

“Sorry, Mister Keeda,” he apologized.  “I really need to give this to a friend – she needs to eat.”

“Very well,” Mister Keeda nodded.  “Go on ahead.”  Fool, he thought as Sharpner walked by him and into the library where he had an inkling that Macey was hiding.

            I just don’t get it, Macey thought as she sat in the back of the room and looked out of the window.  Don’t these people have more important things to worry about then what may or may not be growing inside of me?

“Hey,” Sharpner said as he found Macey in her usual spot.  “You ran out of the cafeteria without any of your stuff,” he told her as he sat down in the chair across from her.  He placed the bouquet and food on the table in front of her and set her backpack on the floor.  “Are you alright?”  He asked.

“Why are you telling everyone about what might happen?”  Macey asked him with a glare.  “You were supposed to keep it between us.  I didn’t want the whole school knowing.”

“Because Macey, I’m freaking out,” he said as he defended himself.  “I only told the guys in the boxing club, but I guess they don’t know how to keep their mouths shuts.  Here,” he said as he pushed the food closer to Macey.  “You need to eat something, and by looking at you, I can tell that you need to sleep.”

Without argument and because she was admittedly starving, Macey began to eat the food that Sharpner had brought her.  After finishing, the couple had five minutes to spare before the bell rang to go to the next class – the final class of the day. 

“So,” Sharpner began as he got out of his chair with Macey.  “Do you want me to walk with you to your next class?” He asked nervously.

“I’m a big girl,” Macey answered.  “I think I can handle it.”

Sharpner chuckled as he handed her the bouquet.  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly as she laid the bouquet on her left arm.  “These are really beautiful,” she told him with a small smile.  “I forgot to mention it earlier.”

“Yeah, well, I figured that a beautiful girl deserves beautiful flowers,” he replied flirtatiously.  “So, hey, listen,” Sharpner nervously began as he rubbed the back of his head.  “I was thinking that since we are going through all this, we should probably get to know each other a bit better.  We only ever really hung out that one time at the party, and neither of us was sober.  So, what do ya say?  Do you want to go to a movie and get some dinner this Saturday?”

Macey scoffed.  “Yeah, so when and if the results come back that I’m not pregnant, you can just toss me to the side like all the others while knowing everything about me?  No thanks,” she said as she tried to push past him.

“Why do you keep thinking that the only reason I want to go out with you is because you might be pregnant?”  Sharpner irritatingly asked.  “Yes, I’ve gone out with a lot of girls, but this time it’s different – and not just because you might be carrying my child.  I actually really like you – not just because of what happened at the party.  Why is that so hard for you to grasp?”

Macey chuckled with disbelief.  “Then prove it,” she challenged Sharpner.  Suddenly, he put his right arm behind her back, pulled her into him, and passionately placed his lips on her’s.  Shocked at first, Macey didn’t return the kiss, but as a few seconds went by, she slightly opened her mouth and allowed Sharpner to show her how he truly felt about her.  Slowly, he moved his right hand from her back to the back of the head, and for the next five minutes, the two were inseparable; however, their intimate moment was cut off when the bell rang for everyone to switch classes.  “Well,” Sharpner said quietly with a smile as he placed his forehead on her’s, “I guess that’s our cue.”

“Too bad,” Macey snickered as she kept her eyes closed.

“Don’t forget to meet me out front after this next class,” Sharpner reminded her as he gathered his things and began to walk out of the library.

“Right,” Macey said quietly, still taken back by what had just happened.  Anyone could have walked in here and saw us, but he didn’t even seem to care, she smiled.

            Psychology.  The class taught by Macey’s older brother who was still undercover as Mister Keeda had been dreaded all day by the young, rogue assassin.  When she walked in the room, Kaiser was already sitting behind his desk, and she quickly walked in and sat down at her seat.

I have to make him believe that I’m more upset than I actually am, Macey reminded herself.  It’s the only way to make him become overconfident – make him think he’s breaking me and making me become able to be manipulated.  Time to play him like Nemei did.  

Macey faked her way through the whole class – pretending that she more upset than she actually was in order to feed Kaiser’s ego.  Because Macey wasn’t there on Tuesday – two days earlier – her group was unable to turn in their assignments, but when Kaiser called for them to turn them in, only Gohan had his, and it was about Videl. 

            “Macey and Videl,” he said as he walked towards the group.  “Why do you not have your assignments?”

His fakeness makes me sick, Macey thought.  “I have things going on,” Macey said quietly as she faked how much she was upset.

“Yeah, and I forgot,” Videl lied. 

“That’s no excuse,” Kaiser scolded them.  “No matter what’s going on, if your education is important to you, then you must turn your assignments in on time,” he told Macey.  “And I’m aware that you’re Mister Satan’s daughter, so I can’t even imagine how busy you must be,” he told Videl.  “So, I’m going to give both of you until Tuesday to turn it in.”

What an ass, Macey thought in disgust.  He’s really playing this part to the “t”. 

Once class was over, and they finished going over Signs and Symptoms of Psychopathy, the clock struck 3:25 PM, and the bell dismissing class rang, but as Macey bolted for the door, she was called back by Kaiser.  Soon, the classroom was empty, and Kaiser dropped his kind, caring teaching act.

            “So, have you thought about my offer?”  Kaiser asked her.  “Your normal life for the Saiyans dead?”

            “I have,” she answered quietly, “and I’ve decided that I’m not going to do it.”

Kaiser laughed as he got up from behind his desk and leaned against the front of it with his arms crossed.  “So, Dea,” he began, “how was your lunch today?”  He asked.  “I saw Sharpner bringing it to you.”

“Why do you want to know?”  Macey replied with an uninterested tone.  “It was food.”

Kaiser laughed and had a grin on his face that frightened Macey.  “Oh, was it?”  He asked menacingly.  “You see, I was already played once by your Saiyan trash twin sister, so I’d have to be an idiot to be played again,” he began.  “You forget – I raised you.  I know your little games.  I knew that you would tell me that you weren’t going to do it because of your incapability of following orders and your attachment to the Saiyans.  If you truly wanted my reverse drug, then you would’ve accepted my deal right then and there – any other normal person would.  However, I forgot to mention that you don’t really have much of a choice.  You will kill them.  You will bring me their heads.  And you will disintegrate their bodies so that they can’t be brought back.”

“Oh, will I?”  Macey scoffed as she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  “And what kind of leverage do you have on me?  I still have a 22% chance of not being pregnant, and that’s good enough for me to hold onto.”

“Exactly,” Kaiser chuckled.  “I’ll admit, I was a little shocked to find out that my drug hadn’t worked like the first time, but I knew you’d hold on to that 22%, so I decided to use your hope to my advantage.  You see, after I didn’t receive your immediate answer in the library, I figured that you were counting on that 22% being on your side, and if it was, you could still continue to do whatever you damn well please.  So, I’ll ask you again – how was your lunch?”

“What did you do?”  Macey demanded to know as she started to become terrified of her older brother.

“I knew that I had to do whatever it took to diminish your hope in the 22% being on your side so that you would see that if you truly want a normal life, then you’ll do as I tell you,” he began with a smirk.  “The drug is called “Actovax Pretora”, but for your feeble mind, you can call it “Acto”.  It’s the nifty little drug that I created and slipped in your drink on the night of the party.  As I said, I knew that I had to diminish your hope in that 22% being on your side, so, laced in your water was another dose of the drug which by now has caused complete fertilization, and about a 98% chance of getting pregnant.  Also, you have another two weeks to get pregnant if you decide that you can’t keep your legs closed.  But you see, this works in your favor.  Yes, now there may be about a two or three percent chance of you not being a teenage mother and ruining this fantasy life that you’ve dreamed up for yourself, but now you have two more weeks to change your decision and carry it out.”

“You son of a bitch,” Macey hissed through her teeth.  “And if I refuse?”

“Agree now, and I’ll give you the reverse drug, and your likely hood will go back down to about 15% because the effects of the drug will be undone,” Kaiser bargained.  “Or, you can refuse my offer and hope that the two or three percent is in your favor.  However, the choice is yours, and if I’m being honest, the choices you’ve made up until now haven’t been the smartest ones.  I didn’t force you and Sharpner to sleep together – if you hadn’t made that choice, then you wouldn’t be in this situation right now, and the drug would’ve just worn off after two weeks.  If you had chosen to agree to my deal, then I wouldn’t have felt the need to lower your chances of not being pregnant.  Don’t you see, Dea?  You can’t live the life you want without sacrifices.  You either take my deal, and I’ll promise to protect you from anyone who comes after you while you live the life you want, or you ruin the normal life that you’re so desperate to have.”

Macey chuckled with disbelief and anger.  “I will kill you, you sick bastard.  I am not your puppet to control,” she snapped at him as she took her stuff and headed out of the classroom door. 

“So, I’m going to take that as a ‘no’,” Kaiser laughed as Macey disappeared into the hallway.  “How foolish.  Yet another bad choice.”

            “There you are,” Sharpner said as he walked up to Macey when she came down the stairs; however, when he went to put his arm around her and walk out of the building with her, he could see that she was bothered.  “What’s wrong?”  He asked as an angry Macey threw open the doors and walked into the cold air. 

            “I’ll explain when we get to Capsule Corp,” she said, sounding upset as she got into Sharpner’s passenger seat.  The drive to Capsule Corp was quiet as Macey stared out of the window and thought about how she was going to tell Sharpner everything about her and what was going on.  Maybe it is my fault, she told herself.  If I had just done my mission, then none of this would be happening.  Instead, I had to chase after what I want.  No!  She yelled at herself.  This is how he wants me to think.  I can’t let him get inside my head.  If I want something, then I have to take it; otherwise, I’m not going to get it.  If I want strength – I have to keep the Saiyans alive no matter the consequences. If I want a normal life – I have to create it and take the good with the bad.  If I want to find Agent Berry – I have to look for him.  If I want to avenge everyone who’s been wronged – then I have to do it.  I have to remember what my father told me – I have to do whatever it takes to get whatever I want, but this – this situation doesn’t just concern me.  As she looked over to Sharpner, she could see that he was nervous and anxious, so in order to help him calm down, she placed her hand on his hand that wasn’t holding the steering wheel and laced her fingers with his.

“Well, here we are,” Sharpner said as they pulled up to the Capsule Corp house and shut his car off. 

“Alright,” Macey said as she let out a sigh, got of the car, and grabbed Sharpner’s hand.  As the two of them walked towards the automated doors, they were greeted by Nemei who was dressed as if she were going on a hike – in a black tank top, black leggings, the new boots she bought, and her new utility belt that had her axes, one of her flashlights, a knife, and the bullets that went to the gun Macey had taken.

            “Hey,” Nemei said to the couple as they got closer.  “What’s going on?”

“This is Sharpner,” Macey said quietly, and immediately, Nemei knew who he was. 

“Nemei,” she introduced herself as she reached her hand out to shake his.  “Well, Bulma and Vegeta are here,” she said.  “I was going to leave this morning, but I didn’t want to leave without saying ‘goodbye’ to you, and they told me that you went to school really early.”

“Thank you,” Macey said as she flashed her twin sister a smile.  “Come on, let’s go inside,” she said.  “I need to have a sit down with everyone.”

As they walked inside, Nemei went to go get Bulma from her lab, Macey went to get Vegeta from his gravity room, and Sharpner stayed sitting on the couch in the giant living room. 

            “What this about?”  Vegeta demanded to know from Macey as she dragged him into the living room.  “What’s so important that you had to interrupt my training?”  However, once he got into the living room and saw the muscular, long blond haired teenager, his demeanor shifted.  “Well, well,” he said in a menacing tone as he walked over to Sharpner.  “So, you’re the one who most likely knocked my daughter up, I presume?  Why are you sitting on my couch?”

“Dad, stop it,” Macey snapped.  Seconds later, Nemei came into the living room as well and was surprised at the gathering.  “Well,” Macey said as she pulled one of the recliners closer to the couch so that she could sit down in front of everyone.  Nemei sat down on the couch next to Sharpner, Bulma sat on the coffee table, and Vegeta leaned up against the wall behind Sharpner which made him feel uneasy.  “I think it’s time that everyone knows the truth about me,” she began.  “Yes, most of you know, but Sharpner doesn’t, and I think he has a right to know what’s going on, but first, I need everyone here to really pay attention to me because a few things I’m going to say – you don’t know about.”

“Promise,” Sharpner nodded and then was followed by Bulma and Nemei. 

“Have you heard of something called a “Saiyan”?”  Macey asked Sharpner.

“Yeah,” he told her.  “That’s the thing that Gohan is, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she confirmed.  “So, now that you know that, I can start.”  As she told the story that everyone in the room but Sharpner had heard, he found himself in shock and dumbfounded. 

“So, let me get this straight,” he said as he tried to fully understand everything that had just been told him.  “Your real name is Dea Tacita.  You’re half Saiyan and half Assassin.  You were sent here on a mission to kill the Saiyans, but because you decided not to, your older brother, Kaiser, who just happens to be Mister Keeda, is tormenting you and trying to ruin your life.”

“More or less,” Macey confirmed.

“And he drugged you at the party with a drug and poked holes in my condoms so that you would end up pregnant, and your life would be ruined just because he thought of you as an inconvenience?”  Sharpner continued in shock.  “And for some reason, when you killed him, he didn’t stay dead, and you all believe that this Arikane dude is hiding something?”

“Yes,” Macey confirmed.  “So, now that everyone is on the same page, it’s time I tell everyone something that none of you know.”  Anxiously, her four-person audience waited for her to continue.  “First of all, I need to invade your privacy,” she said to Bulma.  “How was Trunks conceived?  And I don’t mean in the actual, biological sense, I mean how was he conceived.”

“Why do you need to know?”  Vegeta embarrassingly snapped at her.  “What does it matter?”

“Just answer the question,” she demanded.  “I know it’s weird, but it’ll help me believe if what I heard was true.”

“Broken condom,” Bulma answered quietly and quickly.

“So, he was telling the truth,” Macey said quietly to herself, but not quietly enough for the others not to hear.  “Okay,” she continued as she realized they had heard her.  “Kaiser came up to me during study hall and offered me a deal.  He said that if I agreed to kill, decapitate, and disintegrate the Saiyans, then he’d give me the reverse drug and allow me to live the life I want.  He gave me until the end of the school day to think about it.  However, when I went to tell him that I wasn’t going to do it, he ended up telling me that he had a feeling I’d refuse, so just to make sure that I took his offer, he put more of the drug in my water that I drank at lunch and dosed me again, thus speeding up the fertilization process more.  Now, I have about a 98% chance of ending up pregnant, and I have two weeks to decide whether or not I take his offer.  If I take his offer, he’ll give me the reverse drug, and if I don’t, then well, I’ll most likely end up with a kid.  However, this wasn’t the first time that he’d done it to someone.  When he told me about it, he said he was surprised at my 78% chance because when he did it the last time, the woman ended up pregnant soon after – a human woman.  Then, he told me to ask about how Trunks was conceived, so in the end, he did the same thing to you two as he’s doing to me.”

“What?!”  Vegeta angrily exclaimed, looking disgusted.  “Are you kidding me?!”

“I wish I was,” Macey replied. 

            “Why is he doing this?”  Bulma questioned, sounding concerned.  “I mean, he’s the reason that Trunks exists.”

            “So, Kaiser used the same drug on both you and Bulma and poked holes in each guy’s condoms so that they’d break,” Nemei said as she tried to paint a clearer picture.

“Pretty much,” Macey shrugged.

            “Why would he do something like this?”  Sharpner asked as he tried to understand everything that he’d been told.

“Because he thinks that I’m an inconvenience,” Macey scoffed.  “He told me himself that he did what he did at the party because he wanted me to see how it felt when he was forced to raise me at six years old.  That, and because he doesn’t want me to live a normal life – he’ll do anything to prevent it.”

“But why would he do that to Vegeta and me?”  Bulma questioned curiously.  “I mean, I’m not mad about it too much because I love my son, but still.  What would be the reason for it?”

“Maybe he thought the same thing,” Macey shrugged.  “Maybe he thought that because my dad did what he did, he was somehow responsible for him having to raise me, so he wanted to inconvenience him as well.”

“I really don’t like this guy,” Sharpner said in disgust.

“Yeah, you and everyone else here,” Nemei agreed.  “He’s unbelievable,” she scoffed.  “He’s not afraid to hurt people, he can’t stay dead, he seems to get off on tormenting Dea, and he’s willing to do anything to get what he wants.”

“So, what’re we going to do?” Sharpner asked Macey.  “I mean; he’s not really messing with just your life – it’s my life too.  We were depending on that 22%.”

“I know that, and so did he – that’s why he had to diminish that hope so that I’d bend to his will,” Macey told him.

“So then why haven’t you done it?”  Vegeta asked in an aggravated tone. 

“Done what?”  Macey confusedly questioned.

“You want a normal life, and having a kid at your age isn’t going to give you a normal life,” he sternly told her, “but if you do what needs to be done, then you’ll have the life you want.”

“That would require me killing you and all the other Saiyans to the point that you can’t be brought back,” she reminded her father.  “I would never be able to achieve the strength that I want if all the Saiyans are dead, and not only that, but that would be giving him what he wants, and I would become the monster that I hate so much.”

“And I don’t really think that Kaiser is the trustworthy type,” Nemei added.  “Who’s to say that even if you did agree to his deal, that’d he give you the reverse drug anyway?”

“True,” Macey agreed.  “Knowing him, he probably wouldn’t.”

“So, you’re just going to let him take away what you want, again,” Vegeta said with anger in his voice.

“No,” Macey snapped.  “If I kill the Saiyans, I won’t achieve my strength – I need you to train me and teach me everything.  He would probably not give me the reverse drug, so my life would still be far from normal, and I would become the thing I despise while he gets what he wants.  I refuse to let him fulfill his dream.  I may not be able to have the life that I dreamed up for myself, but I’ll still be able to become as strong as I want and be the avenger I want, and two out of three isn’t bad – especially if he doesn’t get any of the things that he wants.  Besides, I trust the two percent more than I trust him giving me the reverse drug.  Speaking of which, why is it a 98% chance rather than a 100% chance?”  She asked Bulma.

“There’s always a chance that it doesn’t attach to you,” Bulma answered.  “So, if it’s really a 98% chance, then that means it just hasn’t attached to you yet and started developing.”

“Mace, you can’t have a kid just to stop him from getting what he wants,” Vegeta said sternly.  “Bulma, is there a way to come up with a reverse drug that could undo the effects of the drug that he gave to her?”  He asked his wife.

“There might be a way,” she told him, “but it might take a few days.  I would have to take a blood sample from Macey, isolate the drug, figure out what it’s made of, and figure out how to reverse it.”

“If she comes up with it, you’re going to take it,” Vegeta ordered his daughter.

“Only if I’m not officially pregnant by the time she finishes it,” Macey bargained.  “I won’t kill an innocent being.  I kill those who kill innocents.”

“Aren’t you forgetting someone who’s a big part in this?”  Sharpner cut in.  “I can’t be a dad at eighteen years old.”

“I know that we may be blaming Kaiser for all of this because admittedly, he does have a huge role in this, but it’s not totally his fault,” she countered him.  “He didn’t force us to sleep together – we did that on our own, so we also had a big part in it, and even if we come up with a reverse drug, there’s still about a 15% chance.”

“Yeah, but if he hadn’t -,” Sharpner began.

“I know – everything would have been fine,” she agreed, “but now it may be too late for ‘what if’s’.”

“Not unless I can come up with that reverse drug,” Bulma said as she got up from the coffee table and headed towards her lab.  “Macey, meet me in my lab when you’re done here.”

“Well, I guess we should start figuring out what we’re going to do if that small percentage isn’t on our side, and she can’t come up with the drug in time,” Sharpner said in defeat.

“I’m going to get going,” Nemei said as she got up and walked towards her camping backpack that was full of her stuff.  “I’ll make it a point to come home at least every other month,” she said, “but I will figure out what they’re hiding.”

“Alright,” Macey said as she got up to hug her older, twin sister.  “Promise me that you’ll come back alive.”

“I don’t die that easily,” Nemei chuckled.  “I’ll survive – it’s what I do.”

“Do you want me to fly you out to the mountains?”  Vegeta asked his eldest daughter.

“No,” she answered as she walked towards the front door.  “Bulma’s letting me use one of the planes.  I’m good, and I promise – I will find the answers.  I don’t care what it takes.”

            After Nemei left and headed out, Macey, Vegeta, and Sharpner were all that remained in the large living room.  The tension that filled the room between the three was soon cut by Vegeta’s serious question that he hoped would get the two teenagers thinking.

            “Are you two sure about this?”  Vegeta asked as he stood behind the coffee table and in front of the two.  “We’re talking about a child.  You two aren’t old enough to tend to one.”

“If that two percent isn’t in our favor, then we’ll have a kid,” Macey said.  “A child is innocent; therefore, if Bulma is too late in coming up with the reverse drug, I’d be killing my child if I took it, and I’d become no better than Kaiser.  Are you really okay with killing someone with Saiyan blood – your Saiyan blood – in their veins?”

“No,” Vegeta answered quietly, “I just don’t think that you two know what you’re getting yourselves into.”

“It’s not like we don’t want that small percentage to be in our favor or Bulma to come up with the reverse drug too late,” Sharpner argued.  “We just need to be prepared if it’s not or if she comes up with the drug too late.  I’m not okay with killing my child either.”

“I’d be lying if I said we weren’t terrified or nervous, but the truth of the matter is that I can’t allow Kaiser to get what he wants, and I can’t kill someone who’s completely innocent,” Macey stressed.  “Even if I don’t take his deal and kill all the Saiyans in exchange for the reverse drug that he may not even have, he’ll still win if I take the reverse drug that Bulma comes up with when and if I actually do become pregnant because he knows how I feel about killing innocent people.  It’d tear me apart, and he gloat about it for the rest of my life.  I know that it’ll interfere with my dream life, but in order to have a normal life, I have to take the good with the bad.  Isn’t that what people do?”

“Well then, we’d better hope that Bulma comes up with that reverse drug in time,” Vegeta scoffed.  “I still think you’re both in way over your heads.”

“The only thing that’s going to suck if I end up pregnant is that I won’t be able to train or work the C.I.A. contracts for nine months,” she admitted.

“That’s not entirely true,” Vegeta debated.  “There’s a room where one day on the outside equals a year on the inside,” he told her.  “We could go in there, and you’d have the kid before the year is up.  You’d only be pregnant for 18 hours in the real world.”

“That could be a good plan,” Macey agreed.

“No,” Sharpner butted in.  “If you are, then this is my kid too.  I want to be there for the whole thing.”

“I can’t train to my fullest if I’m carrying a child,” Macey argued.  “What if I stayed out here in the real world and went in there when I started showing?”

“I don’t see what difference that would make,” Vegeta rebutted.  “Saiyan women don’t start to show until around eight months, and even then, it’s hard to tell.  Our race evolved so that even Saiyan women can fight and train without having to worry about being huge or causing damage to their child.  So, I’m willing to bet that the same thing is true for a half-Saiyan.”

“Well, that’s convenient,” Macey chuckled.

“Yeah, but don’t think that the symptoms are any better,” he told bluntly told her.  “They’re just as bad if not worse than humans’.”

“But then wouldn’t everyone wonder how he or she was born so quickly if you go into that room?”  Sharpner asked with a puzzled looked. 

“Damn,” Macey sighed, “you’re right,” she admitted.  “I guess we’d have to either keep him or her a secret, or I could go in there only if something happens – like a battle starts or something.  I’ll train and do contracts pregnant, but I won’t fight a battle pregnant.”

“I’m not keeping my kid a secret,” Sharpner argued.  “My parents may kick me out, but I know they’ll still want to see their grandchild.”

“They’ll kick you out?”  Macey asked with concern.

“Kick me out.  Take my car.  Stop my allowance.  Get rid of my trust fund.  You name it,” Sharpner told her.  “I have about $5,000 in my savings that I could use before they find out, but then once they do, I’m sure that’ll all be gone.”

“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing that I’m a part of the richest family in the world,” Macey chuckled.

Vegeta laughed.  “If you think that we’re going to financially support your kid, then you’re mistaken,” he told her.  “We spend enough on you, Nemei, and Trunks.”

“Don’t you mean Bulma?”  Macey scoffed.  “Since when have you ever earned money?”

            “Macey’s right,” Bulma said as she walked back into the living room.  “I’m the one who financially takes care of all of us.  If I stopped coming up with stuff, then we’d be in trouble.  All you do is train all day.  So, I have no problem helping them.”

“Whatever,” he said as he crossed his arms and turned away. 

“I need to get your blood sample, so I can isolate the drug,” Bulma told Macey.

“Alright,” she said as she got up from the recliner and walked towards Bulma.  “Oh, and uh, don’t kill him,” she said to her father.

“Hmph,” he said, still with his arms crossed and back towards them.

            While Bulma led Macey down the hall to her lab, Sharpner and Vegeta were left alone in the living room, and each passing second only made the situation more awkward.

            “So, uh, you should know that I really actually like your daughter,” Sharpner said, breaking the awkward silence. 

            “Yeah, well, I don’t like you,” Vegeta coldly said.  “Not only did you most likely knock her up, but neither one of you is old enough to drink, so if you hadn’t gotten her drunk, she probably wouldn’t have slept with you or gotten drugged.”

“Even if she doesn’t end up pregnant, I’m still going to do everything I can to stay by her side,” Sharpner told him.  “I’ve dated a lot of girls, but it’s different with her – I actually want to be with her.  And if she is pregnant, then I’m going to everything I can for her and our child.”

“Hmph,” the Saiyan father replied.  “You’d better hope so,” he said in a threatening voice as he walked back to his gravity room to resume his training that had been interrupted.

            “So, how long do you think it’ll take you to make the reverse drug?”  Macey asked her stepmother as she started to take a blood sample from her.

            “It depends on how hard it is to isolate the drug,” she told her, “but since he gave you another dose today, it shouldn’t be too hard to find and make a reversal to it.”

“Well, if I end up pregnant before you finish it, I’m not taking it,” Macey reminded her.

“I know,” Bulma said with a smile.  “I don’t blame you.  Even though I agree with Vegeta that the two of you are far too young to have a child, the same thing happened to us, and I don’t know what I’d do without my son, and even though he won’t admit it, Vegeta wouldn’t know what to do either.”

“I’m still hoping that the two percent is on our side,” Macey said as Bulma finished taking her blood sample.  “I know we’re too young, but there’s nothing we can really do about it except accept that it happened.”

“Here,” Bulma said as she rolled in her chair to her desk and pulled out another test.  “There are two in here – take them whenever to keep track until I come up with this reversal,” she said as she handed a box to her stepdaughter.

“I’ll take one right now,” she said as she hoped off of the table she was sitting on and walked towards the door to head back to the living room.

“And I’ll have this done as soon as I can,” Bulma assured her. 

            Down in the living room, Sharpner had been left alone, but he was soon joined when Macey came back into the room.

            “I guess my dad went to go train,” she chuckled once she noticed that Sharpner was alone and sitting on his phone.

            “Yeah, he left a few minutes ago,” he told her as she scrolled through his phone. 

“What’re you looking at?”  She asked as she walked over to her backpack, put the box of tests in the front zipper pocket, took the box of chocolate that Sharpner had given her out, and walked over to the couch to sit next to him.

“StarPost,” he answered, “the school’s social media site – you don’t have one?”

“No,” she answered as she started to eat the chocolate, “all I have is the email address they gave me which I can’t even check because I don’t know how to use a computer for stuff like that.”

Sharpner chuckled.  “You don’t need a computer – you can use your phone just like I am.”

“I’m not from this planet, remember?”  She reminded him.  “The most I know how to do with a phone is call and text people, and the most I can do with a computer is write up reports.  Phonoi may be advanced and almost exactly like Earth, but we aren’t that advanced.”

“Well,” Sharpner chuckled as he wrapped his left arm around her, “take out your phone, and I’ll teach you,” he smiled.  For the next thirty minutes, Sharpner helped her figure out how to use her phone for more than just calling and texting.  He helped her set up her StarPost account, set her profile picture to a selfie of the both of them, added friends to her account, scrolled through his profile and showed her pictures of the baseball and boxing teams that he was on, gloated about winning every game and every match, and showed her how to navigate through the website.

“Bulma gave me two more tests to take,” Macey said, ending the carefree moment as she put her phone back in her pocket and looked up at Sharpner who still had his arm wrapped around her. 

“Are you going to take them?”  He asked her in a serious tone knowing that his time for being cocky was over for the time being.

“I don’t know,” she said quietly as she turned her attention back to the wall in front of her.  “I was going to, but now, I’m not so sure I want to.  I’m so nervous,” she admitted.

“Babe, we need to know where we stand,” he told her as he kissed the top of her head.  “Whether it went up or down, I’ll still be here.”

“Will you come up to my room with me?”  She asked him with nervousness in her voice.

“Of course,” he chuckled as Macey walked over to her backpack, put the chocolate back in it, and carried her stuff up to her room, “but let’s make sure what happened last time we were in a room together doesn’t happen again,” he joked as the two began to walk up to her room, but it didn’t go over well with Macey because it was clear that she didn’t find it funny, and the glare that she shot him shut him up almost immediately.  Instead of starting an argument, Macey kept her thoughts to herself, and the two of them walked into her bedroom and closed and locked the door behind them.

“Alright,” she sighed as she set her backpack on her bed and took the box with the two tests out of the front, zipper pocket.  Nervously, she walked over to her bathroom, closed and locked the door, and while she was in there, Sharpner sat on her bed, picked up her stuffed green dog, and looked at it.  After taking the test, she walked back out with it, set it on her nightstand, and waited the five minutes next to Sharpner. 

“I’m glad to see that you like stuffed animals,” he chuckled.  “I was a little worried that the stuffed bear was a little childish.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly as she took the stuff bear out of her backpack and set it on her bed.  “I’ve had that one since I was a baby,” she told him.  “When my sister tore my warehouse apart, she tore it up, but my dad had it fixed.”

“Hmph, well, that was nice of him,” Sharpner smiled at her. 

“Yeah, he’s not such an asshole once you get to know him.  I mean, he’s still an ass – just not as much,” she laughed.  “I know about his past, so I understand why he is the way he is.”

“Well, I don’t think he likes me too much,” Sharpner chuckled.  “So, how long do we have to wait for that thing?”

“Five minutes,” she said as she looked over to him.  “After this though, I have to go train with my dad.”

“Right, so uh, do you wanna go to dinner and a movie tomorrow?”  Sharpner asked.  “I know you have that contract thing to do on Saturday, so I was hoping that we could go tomorrow after school.”

“Sure,” she smiled.  “It’ll be fun – something normal,” she laughed.  For the next five minutes, as they sat on the edge of the bed, Sharpner kept his right arm around Macey and kept her close to him while she laid her head on his chest as they continued their small talk about any and everything.  “So, it doesn’t freak you out that I’m not a human?”  She asked him seriously.

“No,” he shook his head.  “I’m use to Gohan, and he seems human enough even though he is half human, so why would I think any different of you?  I’ve seen from Gohan just how strong Saiyans are, so if anything, I think it makes you even more beautiful.  Like I said earlier, I like a strong girl,” he flirted.  “If you had never told me, then I probably would’ve never figured it out.”

Macey chuckled.  “And my killing people doesn’t concern you at all?”  She laughed with disbelief.

“I learned from Gohan and Videl that Gohan was actually the one who killed this monster named “Cell” who terrorized the Earth – even killed my parents, but luckily, they were brought back, so as far as killing those who harm people goes, it doesn’t bother me.  I know how it feels to have someone take away from you by someone else, and it’s the worst feeling in the world.”

For the next few minutes, Macey and Sharpner kept their small talk going, and then, Macey’s timer went off – indicating that the five minutes were up.  “Okay,” she sighed as she became overcome with nervousness and got up to pick up the test.  Without looking at it, she slowly brought it over to Sharpner so that they could both look at it, and as she did, her heartrate began to rise, her hands began to sweat, and breathing became almost impossible.  “Here we go,” she said, filled with anxiety as she and Sharpner looked at the test, and as soon as they did, both of their hearts dropped and their bodies began shaking.  “Ninety-nine percent,” she said filled with fear. 

“Only one percent left to go,” Sharpner said, equally filled with anxiety.

“Bulma,” Macey said quietly as she jumped up from the bed and sprinted back downstairs with the test in her hand.  As she made it to the lab, she found Bulma still analyzing her blood sample.  “Bulma, how much longer do you think it’ll take?”  She demanded to know.

            “Um, I’m not sure,” she admitted.  “I haven’t been able to isolate the drug in your blood,” she told her stepdaughter. 

“Please, get it done,” she said with a shaky voice.  “It’s a 99% chance.”

“I’m trying, Macey,” she said with honesty.  “I really am, but this is nothing I’ve ever seen before.  It’s like it doesn’t exist in your system.”

“How can that be?”  She asked with anger in her voice beginning to grow.  “It’s either there or it’s not.”

“It’s there,” Bulma confirmed.  “Every test I’ve run on it has come back with a positive result, but for some reason, nothing can isolate it, so I can’t build the reversal yet.”

“Please, just hurry,” she begged her stepmother as she turned back around and ran back up to her room.  I hate Kaiser, she thought as she became overwhelmed with rage.  I can’t wait to get my hands on his throat again.  When she entered her room, she set the test back on her nightstand, walked over to her dresser, and began to change into her workout clothes. 

“How close is she to coming up with a reversal?”  Sharpner asked.

“Not very,” Macey angrily informed him.  “She can’t even figure out what the drug is made of.  It’s almost like it doesn’t exist.”

“Dammit,” Sharpner scoffed.  “I hate this guy more and more.”

“You, me, and everyone else,” Macey agreed as she walked over to him.  “That’s why I need to get stronger – I have to take him down.  He’s hurt so many people – including you.”

“Well, let me know if you need anything,” Sharpner said as he stood up and wrapped her in his arms.  “I’m only a text or call away.”

“Okay,” she said as she stood there engulfed in his arms.  “I’ll be training with my dad, but I’ll talk to you later tonight whenever I’m done.”

“And I’ll be at the gym,” he told her.  “I need to work off some of this anger, and I have to get ready for my next boxing match and baseball game next weekend.  I’m lucky that Principal Abra is letting me compete after what happened with Rayo earlier.”

“Sounds good,” she said as they walked out of her room and back downstairs.  “And uh, thank you for that,” she smiled.  “I told you I was fine, but thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” he smiled.  Once they reached the door, he pulled her into him one more time and gave her another passionate kiss almost like the one in the library.  After he left, Macey quickly marched to the gravity room where her father was still training, punched in the code to open the door, and walked into the room. 

            “Well, are you finally ready to train?”  He asked in a challenging tone as he turned the gravity down to 30 times normal gravity. 

“Yeah,” she said with a smirk.  “I have one hour to master flying, and I’m going to do it in this gravity.”

“Do you really think you can do that?”  He laughed.

“Of course I do,” she cockily replied.  “After all, I am a Saiyan, aren’t I?”

“Then show me what you can do,” he dared her as he started the timer on his stopwatch.  “One hour – go.”


	18. Chapter 18 - Hunter VS Huntress /  Definitive Results

 

**Chapter 18**

**Part 1 - Hunter VS Huntress: Part 1**

**“In order to survive in a world of instinct, its alternative is to hunt or being hunted.  Reject this, then be prepared to be hunted.” – Toba Beta**

 

            Out in the middle of the mountains in North City, Nemei slowly and carefully landed the plane that Bulma had given her to use.  When she touched down in the middle of the wilderness, she recognized the tree she had marked to help her pick up where she left off.

            Awesome, she thought as she jumped out of the plane, put it into its Capsule, and put it in her backpack.  This is where I need to be, she told herself as she slowly started to make her way down the mountain.  My cabin is about forty miles East of here, so I need to head back in that direction.  Dammit, Kaiser and Arikane, you pulled me so _far_ off course.  Now I’m _going_ to waste at least half a day to get to back to where I was.  Carefully, she made her way down the mountain, and after about ten minutes, she reached the bottom and stood in the center of the trees.  Oh well, she scoffed as she pulled the rifle out from behind her back and began to slowly make her way through the deep, dense woods.  As long as I can make it back to my cabin, I should be able to rest, she told herself as she pushed her way through - making sure not to lose her aim. 

 

...

 

            At Capsule Corp, in the gravity room with the 30 times normal Earth’s gravity, 45 minutes had gone by, and Macey had almost perfected flying twice; however, each attempt was ended when the gravity slammed her body back down to the ground. 

            I just need to take my energy, and use it to move my body, she coached herself as she stood in the gravity room with her father.  Like a cloud, or like a skateboard.

            “Fifteen minutes,” Vegeta taunted her as he kept watching her and his stopwatch.  “I’d say you have about one or two more tries before time is up.”

“Shut up!”  She snapped at him because he was interrupting her train of thought.  “If you want me to get this, then you have to leave me alone!”

Vegeta chuckled.  “I don’t care whether you get it or not,” he told her.  “You’re the one that wants me to train you, and besides, Trunks got this when he was just four years old - are you really going to let your younger brother surpass you?”

Just ignore him, Macey told herself as she kept trying to fly through the heavy gravity.  Use my energy to move me.  Gather it, use it as a lift, use it to move my body.  As she thought through the steps, she began to feel her body come up from the gravity room floor, and she began to feel herself moving through the air.  “Holy crap,” she said as she floated aimlessly through the air.  “I’m getting it,” she laughed.

“Now, try to control yourself,” Vegeta told her.  “Don’t just let yourself float aimlessly.”  Doing as he said, she gathered her energy beneath her body and managed to slowly fly horizontally. 

“I’m sure I could go faster if we were outside,” she said as she floated back down to the floor. 

“Then we’ll go outside,” he said as he turned the gravity room off.  “Let’s see just how fast you are.”  Once outside, Macey managed to do the same thing; however, her speed had increased unbelievably.  Even though her steering was a tad bit off, she was still almost as fast as her father when he decided to race her, and even though he wouldn’t show it, he was having a fun time racing his daughter.

            “There,” he said once they landed back at Capsule Corp after a four-hour long race.  “You got the race that you wanted.”

            “Yeah,” she said as she sounded exhausted, “and I lost.”

“Of course you did,” he chuckled.  “You raced me.”

“Yeah,” she agreed as she bent over at her knees.  “I feel like I’m going to puke.”

“Either do or don’t.  Don’t think about it,” he told her.  Almost immediately after telling her, Macey held her ponytail back, and still bent over, she let everything that she had eaten for the day out. 

“This is horrible,” she said as she tried to catch her breath.

“Yeah, well, let’s hope that Bulma’s figured out how to make the reverse,” Vegeta said as he walked passed his daughter and inside Capsule Corp.

I really hope she’s come up with it, Macey thought as she slowly followed her father into the large house.  This is already getting annoying.  Vegeta and Macey soon walked into the lab, and watched Bulma who was still hard at work.  Just by looking at her and the copious amount of coffee cups, it was easy to tell that she was working as hard as she could, but the question on their minds was whether or not she had come up with the reversal. 

            “How far away are we?”  Macey asked as her nausea finally went away.

            “Not far from where we started,” Bulma said, sounding disappointed and exhausted.  “No matter what I do, I can’t isolate this drug.  Every test I run on your blood sample comes back positive, but it’s like the drug just went away.”

She looks so exhausted, Macey thought as she looked at her stepmother.  Dammit.  We’re already at a 99% chance - what’re the odds that she’ll come up with it on time?  “Just stop,” Macey said quietly as she watched Bulma frantically work.  “You need to get some rest.  You’re going to drive yourself crazy.”

            “Macey,” Vegeta snapped.  “She has to come up with that drug before you actually become pregnant.”

“I know that,” Macey said quietly, “but look at her.  She’s going to wear herself out.  She needs to at least sleep for a little while.”

“What time is it?”  Bulma asked the two.

“Nine o’clock,” Vegeta said as he pointed out to the dark sky.

“You’ve been working for five hours straight and aren’t any closer to finding the reversal than you were when you first started,” Macey said.  “Please, go get some sleep.”  Knowing that there was no argument, Bulma got up from her chair and walked out of the lab to head upstairs to her room.  “I’m going to go shower and get some sleep,” Macey told her dad as she followed suit, and once the both of them were out of the lab, Vegeta walked over to the desk his wife was working at and looked at Macey’s blood sample.

            So, a drug that comes up on a drug test, yet it can’t be isolated from her blood, he began to wonder as he looked at.  Could it be that it integrated itself into her DNA?  No, I’m sure that Bulma looked into that - it’s too obvious not to.  I don’t know what it is, but something about the way this drug works feels familiar.  Oh well, he thought as he set the blood sample back down on the desk.  All we can do is hope that Bulma comes up with the reversal in time.  If there’s a way to make the drug, then there has to be a way to reverse it.  After looking at her sample, he turned the lab light off, walked out, and locked the door behind him before heading up to his room. 

            Upstairs in her room, Macey stood in her shower as she let the hot water pour down her soon-to-be sore body caused by the workout she had with her father.  Well, she thought as she looked down at her stomach that still looked normal.  I can’t help but wonder if you’re in there or not.  If you are, then there’s no way I’m taking that drug reverse if Bulma comes up with it.  I may feel bad for having her work so hard on it, but there’s no way I’d do something like that.  After getting out of the shower and changing into a pair of comfortable pajamas, she jumped in her bed, got comfortable, and reached over and grabbed her phone from her night stand so that she could text Sharpner like she had promised. 

 

To: Sharpner

Time: 9:48 PM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: Done training and just got out of the shower. 

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 10:03 PM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: Awesome, babe.  Just had a super hard workout at the gym.  Definitely going to win next weekend.  Do you want to come? (:

 

To: Sharpner

Time: 10:05 PM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: We should train together sometime (: .  And I’d love to.  What day?  I might other “arrangements”.

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 10:08 PM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: That’d be sweet.  My baseball game is next Saturday, and my boxing match is next Sunday.  How’s the reversal drug coming along?

 

To: Sharpner

Time: 10:12 PM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: I’ll see if I can make them.  And not good.  She still can’t isolate the drug in my blood.  She wore herself out trying, so I had her stop for the night.  I’ll take another test either in the morning or after school to figure out where we stand.

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 10:13 PM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: After school.  I want to be there.  Besides, we have our date tomorrow night (;

 

To: Sharpner

Time: 10:13 PM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: Alright, I’ll take it when we get to Capsule Corp.  And right, haha.  Can’t wait (: Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow.

 

From: Sharpner

Time: 10:14 PM

Day: Thursday

 

Message: Goodnight, gorgeous (:

 

            After sending her last message, Macey placed her phone on her night stand, turned over so that she was facing her door, and instantly fell asleep, but while Macey and everyone inside the Capsule Corp house was asleep, Nemei was still fighting her way to her cabin.

 

…

 

            _Not too much further,_ she told herself as she pushed her way through the dense, forest terrain.  In the freezing cold night, she estimated that she had roughly twenty miles to go after hiking for the last five hours.  Every step she took was careful and quiet – she had to make sure not to draw the attention of any dangerous wildlife or any assassins if they somehow found her.  _So hungry, there has to be a deer or something around here._ For ten minutes, she searched for a good place to catch her dinner, and eventually, she found an old hunter’s box way up in a tree.  However, the only problem was that the latter was almost completely gone, so she had to figure out a way to get up to the box.  _These trees are close together,_ she told herself as she stood in between the tree with the hunter’s box and the tree to the right of it.  _I wonder if my rope is long enough._ Quietly, she set her backpack on the ground, pulled out her rope, and got to work.  After finding a steady limb on the tree with the hunter’s box, she looped her rope around it and pulled it tight.  Then, she did the same on the other tree, except she found a limb that was within her reach – effectively making an up-angled, rope-like bridge that she could use to make it across to the box.  _I can’t carry my backpack across – I’ll most likely break the bridge_.  With just her assault rifle strapped to her back, she gently grabbed the rope and began making her way to the hunter’s box so she could hunt her dinner.  _Alright,_ she thought as stayed low in the box and aimed the gun out into the open to look for a deer or something else edible.  Thirty minutes went by, and nothing that was decent enough to eat walked past her.  “Forget it,” she scoffed as she strapped her gun back on her back and began to climb out of the hunter’s box; however, her journey down was halted when she began to smell smoke.  “Smoke?”  She whispered to herself.  “That’s not a regular fire,” she realized as once she concluded that wood wasn’t being used as the accelerant because the rain that had just stopped had left the forest wet and the wood unable to be ignited.  “That’s gas.  Someone’s setting the forest on fire.  Dammit, they’ve found me.”  In a hurry, she jumped down from the box, landed carefully on her feet, grabbed her backpack, and began running toward the direction that her cabin was in.  “Come on,” she begged herself as her empty stomach hindered her from going as fast as she could.  Suddenly, the fire came into her view, and she could see that it was getting near her cabin.  “No, no, no, no, no,” she pleaded in panic as she began running without worrying about drawing attention.  When she went to bend to the left to go towards the direction of her cabin, she was forced to go right when the fire showed up in the direction she wanted to go.  “Dammit.  They found my cabin.”  With nothing left to do, she ran to the right, but then once again, she found herself being steered back to the left when she made it about a mile.  _This is strange,_ she told herself.  _Why spread it out like this?  If they were trying to kill me, they would have spread it everywhere without giving me a place to run to.  The gasoline was purposely placed out like it is.  Fire that’s started by gas has to follow the gas trail if there’s nothing else to spread to.  The trees are too wet to light on fire, so it’s confined to the trails of gas._ Once again, after going left for about two miles, she was forced to bend back right.  _It’s almost like I’m…on a road._ Once she realized that the fire was making a pathway for her through the forest, she started to believe that whoever set the fire, didn’t do so to kill her.  _Who the hell would make a fire road?_ She wondered as she continued to follow the trail and stopped worrying that it was going to be the cause of her death; however, she began to involuntarily inhale the smoke the longer she ran.  Roughly after another fifteen minutes of running, she began to feel lightheaded and like she was going to pass out due to her lack of oxygen and increase in smoke intake.  _Maybe they really were trying to kill me – just by making me inhale smoke.  I would’ve much rather been lit on fire._ After coughing for what felt like forever, she continued to pushed her way through and follow the fire trail.  _No,_ she told herself.  _My father would be so disappointed if I gave up now.  This has to end somewhere.  Just keep on going._ While Nemei was distracted with trying to keep her legs moving and her lungs working, she didn’t realize the dark sky and the stars that were starting to become eye level.  _No,_ she thought as she struggled to breathe and run.  _I shouldn’t be able to see the stars or the sky straight ahead of me – they should only be above me.  There’s a cliff up here.  They’re going to run me off of a cliff._ With nowhere else to run to due to being trapped on either side by the fire, she was forced to get closer to the cliff that was inevitably coming up.  _I just hope there’s water down there,_ she hoped as her eyes began to close.  As the stars grew closer to her, she knew that the cliff was getting closer, and with the next few steps, she came out of the forest and stood on the edge of a steep cliff that was almost a perfect vertical drop and was at least a 500-foot drop to the ground, and to Nemei’s dismay, there was no water at the bottom – only the dark ground that seemed to be an eternity away.  _Learning how to fly would have really come in handy,_ she told herself as she looked down at the abyss below her.  Soon, her fear and thoughts were cut off when the fire began to close her off from reentering the forest.  Then, she noticed the fire get lower to the ground, and on both sides of her, the fire created a path that stopped at the edge of the cliff – confirming her fear that she was going to have to jump off of the cliff.  Filled with fear, her eyes began to fill with tears, and her heart began to pound out of her chest.  _I barely got to know my actual family,_ she sadly reminded herself as she looked down at the ground below her.  _I should’ve spent more time with them rather than with those stupid documents._ With the fire from the edge of the forest beginning to spread the fire that created the ground path, Nemei began being forced closer and closer to the edge.  “I _won’t_ let them push me off of here,” she said in determination as she took a deep breath in, and with the fire growing closer and closer, she closed her eyes, stepped off with her right foot in a rolling position, and began her long fall down the hill while the fire on the edge that was quickly becoming further away from her began to fully engulf the forest.

            “Very well done,” a spectator said with a smile as they watched the young assassin tumbled down the rocky cliff from afar.

            “All in a day’s work,” the other watcher smirked.  _I hope you understand one day, Nemei._

…

 

**Part 2 – Definitive Results**

**“** **Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it” – C. Joybell C**

 

            _Damn,_ Macey thought when she woke up to see that she only had ten minutes to get dressed and get to school before she’d be late.  Due to her exhaustion from the day before, she slept through all her alarms and only woke up because Sharpner called her and was wondering why he hadn’t seen her at school.  _Why the hell didn’t they wake me up?_ She angrily wanted to know as she sprinted over to her dresser and pulled out a random outfit – a pair of gray sweatpants, a red shirt, and a black hoodie.  Quickly, she covered up the scar on her face, threw her hair up in a messy bun, and brushed her teeth.  After she grabbed her backpack and headed out of the door, she noticed that Vegeta and Bulma’s door was open, but while Vegeta lay sleeping still, Bulma was nowhere to be found.  _She’s probably down in the lab,_ Macey assumed; however, when she ran down the stairs to find her stepmother, she was nowhere to be seen.  “Whatever,” she scoffed.  “I guess it’s time to test out my flying.”  Macey took a few seconds to gather her energy, and before she knew it, she took to the sky and began heading towards Orange Star High School with five minutes left to spare.  Luckily, she landed in front of the school with two minutes to get to her class, and as the bell rang, she walked into her class and breathed a sigh of relief that was soon cut off and replaced with rage.  Slowly, she walked to her desk in the very back of the room next to Gohan and sat down – making sure to not take her eyes off the front of the room.  Dressed in a black suit like always, Kaiser stood at the front desk of the math classroom. 

            “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she quietly mumbled under her breath, unaware that she caught Gohan’s attention.

            “Yeah, I was surprised to,” Gohan whispered.  “I mean, he’s a Psychology teacher after all.”

“Yeah,” Macey scoffed.  “That’s _exactly_ what he is.”  Angry and annoyed, Macey forced herself to make it through her math class even though Kaiser was watching her like a hawk because she knew it would only bring him joy to see her get upset and storm out.  The hour that the class usually took felt like an eternity, and once it was finally over, she casually gathered her stuff and walked out of the room.  _What the hell is he doing here?_ She asked herself.  _Why the hell is he “teaching” my math class?_ Macey, who was angrily walking through the halls towards the library for her study hall, stopped paying attention to where she was going, and she ended up running into and knocking down her former enemy, Videl. 

            “Ouch!”  Videl exclaimed as she rubbed her forehead.  “Gosh, Macey.  What’s your problem?”

            “Sorry,” Macey quietly apologized as she began to get back up, but as she did, a feeling of nausea came over her.  “No,” she said quietly – commanding herself not to throw up, “don’t do this.”  Once she got back to her feet, she had to lean against a locker on her right so that she could keep her balance and try to focus on not throwing up. 

“Hey,” Videl said as she quickly went to Macey’s side and placed her hand on her shoulder, “are you alright?”  She asked in a caring tone.  “You look like you’re about to pass out.  What’s wrong?”

“Uh,” Macey began as she tried to keep her eyes open.  “Exhausted, nauseous, angry, sore – take your pick.”

“You’re going to be just fine,” Videl tried to comfort her while she rubbed her back.  “Just keep breathing.”  _She looks so miserable,_ Videl thought to herself.  _She looks like she needs to sleep for about a week or have some fun at least._ “Girls’ night!”  Videl excitedly exclaimed.  “You, me, this weekend.  Girls’ night.”

“What?”  Macey said as she shook head.  _That doesn’t even sound fun._

“You know – girls’ night,” Videl repeated.  “Just you and me.  No guys.”

“I’m busy,” Macey told her as she continued trying not to throw up.  While Videl tried to comfort Macey past the time that the bell rang for the next class to start, they caught the attention of two passersby’s – Sharpner and Gohan. 

            “Hey, what’s wrong?!”  Sharpner asked frantically as he saw Videl trying to comfort the mother of his maybe-child.  “Is she alright?”

            “Videl, what happened?”  Gohan asked his girlfriend. 

“She’s fine,” Videl said, but it was clear that it was a lie.  “Guys, don’t worry about her.”

Sharpner scoffed.  “Don’t worry about her?  She might be pregnant with my child.  How can I not worry about her?”

“Sharpner, just calm down,” Gohan said as she tried to comfort his friend.  “Videl, what exactly happened?”

“We accidentally ran into each other in the hallway, and when she stood back up, she started to feel exhausted and sick,” Videl explained.  “That’s all that happened.”

“This is probably what her dad was talking about,” Sharpner said quietly as he held Macey in his arms and sat down against the lockers – catching the attention of Videl and Gohan.

“What do you mean?”  Gohan asked curiously as he looked at Sharpner sitting on the marble floor with a half-unconscious Macey in his arms.

“Yesterday, her dad told us that a Saiyan’s pregnancy has harsher side effects than a humans’, so any little thing can cause her to become nauseous, and when she does, it’s worse than what you usually think of.  Like, being bumped into in the hallway,” Sharpner explained.

“Wait, so she _is_ pregnant?!”  Gohan exclaimed, but then he quickly quieted his voice when Videl and Sharpner shot him a glare.

“We don’t know for sure,” Sharpner said quietly.  “The test she took yesterday was 99%.”

“So, she’s pretty much pregnant,” Videl concluded.

“We’re holding on to the one-percent, but either way, I still care about her,” Sharpner admitted to them as he laid his right cheek on her head and looked towards Gohan.  “As soon as she wakes up, I’m taking her home.”

            “Hey!”  A teacher yelled from down the hall by the stairs.  “What’re you kids doing?!  Get to class!”

“Well, hey, we gotta go,” Gohan said quietly as he grabbed Videl’s hand and pulled her to their next class – leaving Sharpner on the floor holding Macey.  Ignoring the teacher down the hall’s footsteps coming his way, Sharpner kept his cheek on her head and closed his eyes. 

“You’re going to be fine,” he said quietly as he kissed her head.  “I’m right here – no matter what.”

“Sharpner,” the teacher snapped.  “What on Earth are you doing?”  Due to hearing his name, Sharpner looked up to see the teacher standing in front of him, and when he saw that Mister Keeda was standing in front of him, looking down at him and Macey with his arms crossed, he became angry but refused to voice it in fear of waking Macey up.

            “What the _hell_ do you want?”  Sharpner hissed at him.

“Careful now,” Mister Keeda shushed Sharpner.  “I’m a teacher.  If you curse at me, I’m more than capable of getting you suspended.”

“So then do it – _Kaiser_ ,” Sharpner scoffed as he laid his head back down.

Kaiser laughed.  “So, I see she told you, huh?”  He suspected as he squatted down at ran his hand alongside Macey’s face, but instantly, it was slapped away by Sharpner.

“Only everything,” Sharpner confirmed.  “You disgust me – lay another hand on her and I’ll break it off of your damn arm.  What do you want?”

“I don’t see why you’re so angry at me,” Kaiser chuckled.  “I haven’t done anything to you.  I offered her a way out of this mess, and she _refused_ to take it.  If she had killed the Saiyans like she was supposed to in the first place, then neither me nor her would still be on this pathetic planet, and if she had taken my deal, then I would’ve given her the reverse drug that I have in my jacket pocket,” he said as he pulled a vial out of the inside of his jacket pocket and held it in front of Sharpner.  “On the other hand, it pains me to see my little sister in such a state as this, so I’m going to make _you_ a deal.”

“I don’t want any part of your deal,” Sharpner scoffed as he held Macey tighter. 

“Oh, but you will,” Kaiser smiled.  “I was overhearing your little conversation with your friends, so I’ll tell you what.  I’ll give you this reverse drug right now and then the 99% of her being pregnant will drop back down to about 15%.”

“And what’s the catch?”  Sharpner asked uninterested.

“Few things,” he said as he held his index finger up.  “One – I’ll arrange for you to have the dream baseball career that you’ve been aiming for since freshman year.  Two – I want _at least_ Vegeta dead and disintegrated so that he can’t be brought back.  Obviously, you don’t have powers like Dea does, but fire gets the job done as well.  Three – you will give it to her here and now while she’s still passed out.”

“You’ll really give it to me if I agree?”  Sharpner asked for confirmation.

“Yes,” Kaiser grinned.  “Just agree, and your little, growing problem will cease to exist; however, if you don’t uphold your end of the deal, I _will_ kill you and her without a second thought.  Are we clear?”

“Fine,” Sharpner quietly agreed, and instantly, Kaiser held up his end of the deal and gave Sharpner the reverse drug.

“I’m not leaving until I watch you give it to her,” he said as Sharpner took the top off of the vial and held it up to Macey’s mouth, but then suddenly, Sharpner threw the glass vial as hard as he could on the ground in front of him – causing the reverse drug to go all over the floor, and when Sharpner saw the look on Kaiser’s face, he couldn’t help but to laugh to himself, making sure to stay quiet for Macey’s sake.  “You can’t be serious,” he said in disbelief.  “Do you _really_ think I’d accept a deal like that?”

“I thought you’d do anything for your dream career,” Kaiser replied through his teeth.  “Having a kid now isn’t going to help you get your career going.”

“Stop pretending that you know me,” Sharpner hissed at him.  “You’re messed up in the head.  First of all, I’d take much more pride in _earning_ my dream job and even more so if I have my child by my side.  Secondly, hell no.  The man may not like me, but I respect Macey’s father, and I know how much she cares for him – that would crush her, and unlike you, I couldn’t live with being a murderer. Thirdly, absolutely not.  I know why you want me to give it to her right now.  You overheard that there’s a 99% chance that she’s going to be pregnant, and we – including you – can all assume that it’s going to happen.  You know how she feels about hurting or killing innocent people, and that’s exactly what our child is – innocent, and you know how badly it would break her heart if she found out that our baby died because of you.  You know that she’d never take it on her own if she’s pregnant, so you want me to force it to her, so you can cause her more pain.  And lastly, don’t you _ever_ call our child a “growing problem”.  If anyone here is a growing problem, it’s you and your ego that you shouldn’t even have in the first place.  I’m not going to disagree with you that we’re young – we know that – we aren’t as stupid as you’d like to believe.  We may be viewed as idiots for having a baby now at 15 and 18 years old, but if it brings us happiness, pisses you off, and makes you lose what you want – then so be it.  You _want_ her to take the reverse drug so that it’ll hurt her, and for some sick reason, you get off on that, and I, along with she, refuse to let you get what you want.”

Kaiser chuckled.  “You know, I’m intrigued by you,” he began, causing a puzzled look to come on Sharpner’s face.  “I mean, here you are – the biggest player in this entire school, star athlete and what not, yet for some reason, you seem to be caring, protective, and maybe one could go as far as saying _in love_ with this pathetic excuse of a person.  For God’s sake, you’re sitting on the floor in the middle of the hallway and allowing her to sleep on you.  So, which is it?  Do you feel bad for knocking her up, or are you smartly playing her just like all the others and planning to toss her aside once you’re finished?”

“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” Sharpner scoffed, “but whether or not she’s pregnant, I’m still going to be right by her side, and even though I know that _I_ don’t stand a chance against you, I know that she and her father _will_ find a way to kill you for good.”        

“Very well,” Kaiser said after a few seconds of silence passed between the two, and he began to stand back up.  “I guess you two really do belong together – you make the worst choices possible just as she does.”

“Why do you _insist_ on hurting her like you do?”  Sharpner asked in disgust.  “What could she have _possibly_ done to you?”

Kaiser sighed at the sound of the question that he felt was annoying.  “How many times to do I have to say it?”  He asked in an annoyed tone.  “She knows what the Saiyans did to our family and our planet.  She was created for the sole purpose for killing them, and she’s refused to do it after I spent my entire life raising her and training her to become strong enough.  No matter how hard I push her, she won’t do it, so I’m going to do whatever needs to be done to get her to do it.  She wants a normal life more than anything, so I figured I’d ruin that life before she got to begin it, hence why I sabotaged your night together.  I thought that she’d take my deal – that she would finally agree to kill them in exchange for her normal life that she wants so desperately.”

“Then why not just do it yourself?”  Sharpner glared at him.  “If you want them dead so badly, why not just kill them all yourself?”

“Because, unlike Dea, I’m something called “loyal”,” he began.  “I was told to remain here as a teacher for Orange Star High School, keep an eye on Dea, and do whatever needs to be done to make sure she does her mission.  I was specifically ordered _not_ to kill anyone with Saiyan blood, and my loyalties don’t let me break that order; however, that doesn’t stop me from trying to use Nemei to do it, which clearly has backfired.”

Sharpner scoffed.  “Seriously?  So you’re saying that you _weren’t_ going to kill Nemei when Macey found her?  Nemei has Saiyan blood in case you’ve forgotten.”

“ _That_ is none of your business,” Kaiser said as he held his index finger up to Sharpner.  “Now, I have class to teach – ta-ta,” he smirked.

            _That guy is such an unbelievable jerk,_ Sharpner thought as he watched Macey’s eldest brother walk into this classroom.  Roughly thirty-five minutes later, Macey began to move around.  “Well, hey there,” Sharpner smiled down at her when she opened her eyes.

            “I hate him,” she said tiredly as she got look of annoyance on her face.

“How – how much of that did you hear?”  Sharpner curiously asked.

“Only the last part,” she said with a yawn.  “I’m so sorry,” she apologized as she moved herself away from Sharpner.  “I shouldn’t have fallen asleep.”

“It’s not your fault,” he told her, “but I’m taking you home – you’re too tired to be at school.”

“I can’t just leave,” she said as she began to remind him of the C.I.A. deal.  “If I don’t attend at _least_ three days a week – I’ll have a legal contract put on me, remember?”

“There has to be some exception,” Sharpner argued.  “I mean, you’re most likely pregnant, so they have to make an exception for you.”

“They might,” she shrugged as she got back to her feet, “but I’ll figure all that out when we get the final results.  So, for right now, I have to be here at least three days a week.”

“Well, you pretty much slept through your study hall, but I’ll make sure to sit with you at lunch,” Sharpner assured her as he too got up.  “If you need anything, you have my number, and I’ll drive us to Capsule Corp after school.”  In agreement, Macey nodded her head, and Sharpner pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss to get her through the school day that was going to prove to be challenging.  After walking her to her table in the library for the remainder of her study hall period, they both went their separate ways, and when lunch came around, he stayed true to his word and sat with her – clearly being protective over her.  During lunch, they sat together at the table with the boxing club, and when Macey went to take a bite out of the spaghetti she had bought, Sharpner immediately stopped her.

            “Don’t eat the school food,” he told her, sounding frantic as he held her hand down so she was unable to eat.  Even though he knew he couldn’t tell her out loud why she shouldn’t eat it, he gave her a look that made her understand what he was thinking.

            _He thinks that Kaiser might have done something to it,_ Macey realized.  “Yeah, you’re right,” she chuckled.  “School food has never tasted good.”

“That, and it might not be good for our baby if your pregnant,” he added on, and while the majority of the table thought that he was being straight forward, Macey knew that he was referring to the drug that may have been laced in her food.

“I’ll just eat when we get home,” she said with a smile.  “I’m not too hungry anyways.”

            “Bran or Macha,” one of the girl said out of nowhere. 

“Huh?”  Sharpner and Macey replied in confusion.

“For a boy – Bran, and for a girl – Macha,” she specified.  “I just thought those were cute names.”

Macey and Sharpner gave a weird look to each other.  “Not that we don’t appreciate your suggestion, we just don’t know for sure if I’m pregnant or not,” Macey replied, trying not to sound like she was a tad bit weirded out.   

“But we will definitely keep those names in mind,” Sharpner said as he tried to make his friend happy.  _Honestly, I don’t think either one of us like those names._

            “Dea Tacita, please report to Principal Abra’s office immediately,” a woman’s voice over the intercom said loud enough for everyone to hear, and instantly, Macey and Sharpner looked at each other as if they didn’t know what to do.  “Dea Tacita, please report to Principal Abra’s office immediately.”  The woman repeated.

            “I believe that’s you, no?”  Kaiser said as he stood behind Macey and Sharpner.  “Come on, I’ll escort you.”

            “Oh wow,” one of the girls at the table said – instantly becoming smitten with the undercover assassin who was disguised as a teacher.  “Look, you get to be escorted by the _gorgeous_ Mister Keeda!”

 _What the hell is he doing?_ Macey asked herself once she realized that Kaiser wasn’t going to go away.  _Did he tell them my real name?_

 _I wish I were able to take this guy on,_ Sharpner thought in disgust as he tried to figure out what Kaiser’s game was.  _I’d love to punch his face in._

“That’s not me,” Macey denied as she refused to turn around and look at him.  “You have the wrong person.”

“Miss Tacita, you are in my Psychology and Math classes – I know your name,” Kaiser insisted in his fake professional tone.  “Lying to me can result in suspension.”

“Then suspend me!”  She yelled as she got up, turned around, and faced him – ultimately drawing the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.  “That’s not my name!  I’m not lying to you!”

Kaiser pulled out his folder filled with Psychology papers and flipped through until he found a certain one.  “Then why does this paper that _you_ turned into me say, ‘Dea Tacita’?”  He asked, still sounding kind as he held up a paper that was clearly forged by him.  Beaten and angry, she pushed her way past her undercover brother and made her way out of the cafeteria – making sure to slam the doors open on her way out, and as everyone’s attention was drawn to Macey, no one saw the sadistic grin growing on Kaiser’s face.  _How do you like high school, now?_ He thought as he laughed to himself.

            _He just won’t give up,_ Macey thought to herself as she made her way to Principal Abra’s office to see what she had been called for.  _He thinks of everything possible to ruin my life.  Maybe I could get him fired while I’m in here – after all, he’s not a real teacher._ Once she reached the door to the principal’s office, she opened it up, and sitting inside the office behind the desk was none other than Principal Abra.  Sitting there with his hands folded, he welcomed Macey into the room and asked her to sit in the large, leather chair across from him.

            “What’s this about?”  Macey demanded to know, sounding uninterested. 

Principal Abra smiled.  “I’ve been hearing some talk about you – some from students; some from teachers, and I just wanted to get your side to it.”

 _This man really just called me in here to gossip?  Are you serious?_ “So, uh, what kind of _talk_ is going on?”  She asked as she pretended to be interested.

“First of all, let me say that I’m here for you,” the skinny, short brown haired with the glasses began, “and if you ever need someone to talk to, then you know where my office is.  I have a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Masters in Sociology, so I think I may be of some help to you.”

Macey rolled her eyes.  “Will you just get on with it?  I don’t have time to listen to your life story.”

The principal coughed, clearing his throat.  “Very well,” he continued.  “I had a teacher of yours voice a concern about you that I thought was truly worrying.  Tell me, which name would you rather be called?  Dea Tacita or Macey Evans?”

“My name’s _not_ Dea Tacita,” Macey replied through her teeth, lying about her real name.  _Dammit, Kaiser – what did you do?_ She began to think with worry.

“Okay then, Macey,” Principal Abra nodded with a smile.  “What do you do for a living?”

“What do you mean, ‘what do I do for a living?’,” she scoffed at the question.  “I’m here – everyday – all day.  I don’t have time for a job.  Will you quit beating around the bush?  Otherwise, I’m going to get up and walk out of here.”

“Okay, just calm down,” the principal said, trying to get her to stay in the seat, and slowly and carefully, he began to explain why she was in there.  “I’ve heard that you believe that you are a race that’s half Saiyan and half of this other race called ‘Assassin’.  The half Saiyan is believable because we all know that Gohan is a half Saiyan, but do you really believe that you’re half Assassin?”

Instantly, Macey knew what was happening.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, sounding bored.  _This son of a bitch,_ she thought.

“I understand that it’s difficult to talk about, but you need to know that there is no such race as ‘Assassin’,” he continued, still in his careful and cautious tone.  “Is it true that you believe that you work as an assassin and that your life mission was to assassinate all the Saiyans until you decided to go rogue?”

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Macey said in her same tone.

“How about the accusation that you believe that Mister Keeda is your older brother and is here to watch you?”  He asked, and again, Macey kept her same reply.  “How do you feel about the accusation that you believe that the C.I.A. made a deal with you?”  At the sound of the question, Macey’s heart began to race; however, she kept with her same reply. 

 _There’s no way that Kaiser should know about that,_ she told herself as she hid her worry.  _How the hell could he have found out about that?_

“And my final question is, do you really believe that Mister Keeda dosed you, altered Sharpner’s contraception, and that you might be pregnant with Sharpner’s child?”  Hearing the principal’s question about her and Sharpner’s maybe-child, caused Macey to become enraged and stand up from the chair.

“Do _not_ question our child,” she commanded him through her gritted teeth as she stared at the principal. 

“Okay, okay,” Principal Abra replied, trying to make her stay calm.  “It may be true that you’re pregnant; however, do you believe that Mister Keeda is responsible for that?”

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Macey said with anger.  “Are we done here?”

“For now,” he nodded.  “You’ll be required to meet with me every Tuesday and Thursday after school until I feel that you’re where you need to be,” he said as he handed her an appointment schedule.  “You don’t want to talk right now, and I understand that, but if something is going on in your life that is causing you to believe these things, then you should talk about it.”

Macey scoffed and shook her head as she snatched the paper that was being handed to her.  “Yeah, great.  Thanks,” she said, sounding unamused as she walked out of the door – making sure to crumble up and throw the paper in the trashcan on her way out.  _I can’t believe this,_ she thought as she stormed back down to the cafeteria.  _He’s made the principal think I’m crazy.  What is he trying to prove?_

            “So, how’d it go?”  Kaiser said in a smug tone as he stood in a corner by the door to the cafeteria and watched Macey walk by. 

            _My turn,_ she told herself, and right away, she changed her demeanor.  “Wonderful,” she said happily with a smile.  “I didn’t think it’d turn out the way it did, but I should thank you.  Now, I have someone to talk to.”

“Wha – you mean – you’re _happy_ about this?”  Kaiser replied in shock and confusion.

“Yeah,” she confirmed with a smile as she walked past him and into the cafeteria.  “Whatever you did, thank you.”  Even though Kaiser saw her acting happy about the incident that just occurred, he didn’t see her forced-happy face go back to an angered and serious one once she entered the cafeteria. 

            “So, what was that?”  Sharpner asked her quietly.

“We’ll talk later,” she said as she gathered her backpack and headed back out of the cafeteria.

After a long, anxiety-filled day at school, Sharpner and Macey arrived at Capsule Corp, and they each sat quietly in Sharpner’s car – trying to stall taking the test. 

“I can’t believe that he made the principal believe you’re crazy,” Sharpner said in disbelief after Macey told him everything that happened.  “Did he really seemed bothered when you acted happy about it?”

“Yeah,” she replied.  “I think he was expecting me to get mad or upset.”

“Then just act like that every time he does something to you,” Sharpner suggested.

“I can’t do that,” she told him.  “If I act like that at _everything_ he does, he’ll catch on and do worse things until I react like he wants me to.  I have to react honestly sometimes, other times, I have to overreact, or sometimes, just to make him get overconfident or throw him off, I have to act completely different.”

“Right,” Sharpner agreed.  “Well, I think I reacted honestly for the both of us today.”

“How do you think we’ll react about the final results?”  She asked quietly as she looked at the large house.  “I mean, I know we’re both pretty sure of what they’re going to be, but it’s not for certain yet.”

“Well, why don’t we go find out?”  He asked as he opened his car door and began walking towards the Capsule Corp house, but when he made it a good way, he realized that Macey wasn’t behind him.  “Hey,” he said as he walked back to the car and opened her door.  “You coming?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly with a nod, but even though she tried to remain cool, calm, and collected, the anxiety in her voice couldn’t be hidden.  Knowing that there was nothing he could do to calm her anxiety, he stood at the open door and looked at how nervous she was. 

“Our movie starts in three hours,” he said as he looked at his watch.  “I’ll give you two hours to sit here, but then you have to take the test.”

Macey scoffed.  “I should just get it over with _now_ ,” she said.

“So then, come on,” he said as he gently grabbed her hand, and as he did, he could feel how cold it was and how badly it was beginning to shake. 

“It’s just a completely different feeling when you speak about it hypothetically than when you actually find out the truth,” Macey said once she realized that he felt her shaky, cold hand.  “It’s easy to talk about ‘what-ifs’, but it’s scary to think that the truth is right behind the front doors of my house.”

“You’re not the only one who’s afraid,” Sharpner assured her as he squatted down to her level.

“Well, then I guess you’re better at hiding it than I am,” she shrugged.

Sharpner gave a small smile.  “Maybe,” he said as he stood back up.  “Now, what do ya say?”

“Fine,” she said quietly, still sounding nervous. 

            The two walked hand in hand into the large house, and when they got in, they realized that no one was there. 

            “This is weird,” Macey pointed out.  “Bulma’s been gone since this morning, and my dad slept in longer than usual, and neither one of them are here.”

            “I’m sure they’re fine,” Sharpner said casually.

“What if Kaiser got to them?”  She asked in a worry tone.

“There’s no way on this planet that Kaiser would be able to handle your father,” Sharpner assured her as he looked in her eyes.  “And I highly doubt that he’d want Bulma.  They’re probably just out and about.”

“Yeah,” she sighed.  “You’re probably right.”  Without another thought, the two walked up to Macey’s room and closed and locked the door behind them. Still filled with anxiety, Macey threw her backpack on her bed, walked over to the night stand, and grabbed the last test off of it.  “Here it is,” she said as she held the test in her hands.  “Let’s just get it over with,” she said as she exhaled a deep breath.

“I’ll be right here,” Sharpner told her as he kissed her forehead and sat down on the bed.  With no way to argue out of taking it, she slowly and nervously walked over to the bathroom, and once she was done, she walked back out with it just as nervous as she was walking in. 

            “Five minutes,” Sharpner said as he started the timer on his phone as Macey sat down next to him.  _I’ve got to try to get her to stop being so nervous,_ he told himself as he wrapped his arms around her.  “So, what’re you going to wear tonight?”  He asked her, trying to get her mind off of the results that they both knew would pop up. 

            “I don’t know,” she shrugged.  “Something comfortable, I guess.”

“Oh, come on,” he said in a fake, disappointed tone.  “You have to wear something pretty,” he smiled.  “For me?”

“Fine,” she scoffed.  “I don’t understand how you can worry about that _now_.” 

“Awesome,” he smiled – ignoring what had just been said to him.  “Come on, I’ll help you pick something out,” he said as he got up and walked towards her dresser. 

“Who are you trying to distract?”  Macey asked him.  “Me or yourself?”  However, Sharpner ignored her question and began to look in her dresser for an outfit for her to change in to, and once she realized that he wasn’t listening, she got up to join him in the search for something to wear.  Eventually, as the timer went off, she found an Earth tone green, long sleeve dress that had a scoop neck and went right above her knees.  “This’ll do,” she said as she threw the dress on her bed and slowly walked over to the nightstand.  “Do you want to look at it, or do you want me to tell you?”  She asked him.

“Saying it out loud will probably help us both actually believe it,” Sharpner said.  Macey nodded in agreement, and as her heart rate began to sky rocket, and her body began to shake, she closed her eyes as she came up on the nightstand.  With her eyes closed, she grabbed the test and sat down on her bed.  After taking a few deep breaths in and releasing them, she set the test in her lap, and opened her eyes to look at the wall in front of her – still scared about looking at the results.

“I don’t think I can do it,” she said on the verge of tears.  “I can’t look at it.”

“Babe, you can do this,” Sharpner assured her.  “No matter what it says, I’ll still be right here.”

Knowing that there was nothing she could do to stall the inevitable, she closed her eyes, titled her head down, and opened them so that the test would be the first thing she saw, and once she opened her eyes to look at it, her breath escaped her body, her eyes filled with more tears, her heart rate began to beat faster, and fear swallowed her body.

“Do you want a boy or a girl?”  She quietly asked Sharpner as tears began to silently stream down her face, and Sharpner, who had been hiding his nervousness from Macey in order to keep her from being scared, lost his front, and the fear that he was hiding took over him.  Quickly, he ran over to Macey who had become numb and emotionless and looked at the test for himself, and in bold words were the words “Positive” and the percentage now read “100%”

“This is _really_ happening,” he said as his breath also left his body at the sight of the results.  “This isn’t hypothetical anymore.  He won – that bastard won.”

Macey shook her head.  “No,” she said with anger.  “This is how he wants us to react.  He wants us to be afraid and mad and shaken up – he wants us to suffer.”

“Well, then I’d say that he’s doing a pretty good job,” Sharpner scoffed.  “You do realize how much our lives are going to change, right?  He’s ruined the life that you want before you could even have it.”

“There’s no definition of ‘normal’,” she quietly argued.  “What’s normal to me may not be normal to someone else.  Being a mother this young could become my normality, so I refuse to believe that I still can’t get what I want.  I’m still going to win this.  I lied when I told you that I only heard the last little bit of your conversation with Kaiser – I heard everything right before I really fell asleep.  I heard you deny his deal, and I heard you when you defended our child when we weren’t even sure if I was pregnant – just like I did when Principal Abra doubted that I was pregnant.”

“But now that it’s real -,” he began before being cut off.

“I know,” she told him.  “‘What-ifs’ are a lot easier to talk about than the facts, but we _have_ to defend him or her just like we did when we were assuming that I was pregnant.  It’ll drive him crazy.”

“Okay, but for _one minute_ can we just think about how it’s going to affect _both_ of us?”  Sharpner said with a trace of anger in his voice.  “You may be fine with having a kid now and find the joy in pissing off your brother, but I have my own life to worry about.  I’m more than likely going to get kicked out, have my trust fund taken away, get my car taken, and have no allowance.  My parents aren’t like yours – they’re not okay with financially supporting my kid, and I don’t want someone else paying for him or her entirely.”

“I’m _not_ fine with having a kid now,” she argued.  “I’m absolutely terrified, but I know that there’s _nothing_ we can do.  There’s absolutely no way that I’m taking the reverse drug when and if Bulma comes up with it, and I know you don’t want me to either because you smashed the one that Kaiser gave you to force me to take.”

“You’re right,” he agreed, “I don’t want you to take it, but now that it’s actually happening, I don’t see how we’re going to raise a kid – especially at 15 and 18 years old.”

“Sixteen,” she corrected him.  “My birthday is in April – I’ll be 16 when he or she is born, and we aren’t supposed to know – we’ve never done it before.  That’s part of it, but for right now we need to use this to our advantage.  If we sulk around and act upset and terrified, then it’ll only make Kaiser happy.  I know we’re both scared and obviously angry at him, but we need to let that go and accept that what’s happened has happened.  If you get kicked out and lose everything, then I’m more than positive that Bulma and my father will let you move in here, and if it bothers you that Bulma offered to financially support us, get your dream baseball career going after you graduate and support us.”    

“You have a point,” he quietly admitted.  “If everything goes like it should, then he or she will be born at the end of August.  I’ll be graduated two months before that, so that should give me some time to start working.  What if they let me move in right away?”

“We could ask,” Macey shrugged.  “I don’t see why not.”

“Well, I want to spend that $5,000 that I have in my savings before my parents take it,” he told her.  “How soon can we find out what we’re having?”

“That I don’t know,” Macey admitted.  “Why?”

“I want to spend my money on clothes and whatever else I can afford for our child – like room decorations and toys and stuff,” he told her.

Macey smiled as her tears of fear stopped.  “Well, if Bulma would ever show up, I’m sure she has a way to determine that.”

“Right,” Sharpner replied quietly, still obviously nervous. 

“Hey,” Macey said as she grabbed his hand with her shaking hand.  “It alright to be terrified – I know I am, but just because we’re scared or mad or whatever, doesn’t mean that we can’t love, want, and defend our child.”

“I know that,” he quietly replied as he kissed her forehead.  “We’re going to be alright.”

            After spending the next two hours in her room cuddling and watching television, Macey got dressed and wore the dress that she picked out, tan wedges, and a tan handbag.  Her makeup was done exceptionally, and her scar was covered completely up.  After she was finished, the two of them headed downstairs so they could make their movie on time.  As they walked out of the front doors of Capsule Corp, Macey took one last look in Bulma’s lab, and was surprised when she saw her sitting there.

            “Haven’t seen you all day,” she said as she looked at her stepmother hard at work.

            “Yeah, sorry,” she chuckled.  “I had to run a few errands today – I just got home.  I tried to wake you this morning, but you weren’t having any of it.”

“Are you still working on the reverse drug?”  She curiously asked her.

“Yeah, I’m actually -,” Bulma began.

“You don’t need to,” Macey nervously interrupted her.  “I’m not going to take it.”

Bulma was shocked at what she was hearing because she knew that there was only one reason that Macey would be saying it.  “So, you’re – uh – you’re,” she stuttered.

“Pregnant,” Macey finished her sentence for her.  “Yeah.”

            “That bastard!”  Vegeta yelled from behind them as he crushed the bottle of water in his hand, causing everyone to look at him.  “I swear; I’m going to kill him!”

“Yeah,” Macey agreed with a calmer tone than her father.  “We will, so tomorrow after I get done with my contract, you and I are going to amp up our training.” 

“All the training in the world isn’t going to help unless you can make him stay dead,” Bulma argued. 

“It’ll help,” Vegeta countered, “and I don’t care if the son of a bitch _ever_ dies – I could use a new punching bag, but killing him would be much more satisfying.”

“Are you two sure about this?”  Bulma asked Macey and Sharpner as she went to dispose of Macey’s blood sample.

“Yes,” they said in unison.  “My child is and will be a source of my strength,” Macey began.  “From here, and from this experience, my strength will only grow.  Kaiser _wants_ us to be upset and fearful of this, and in reality, we are terrified, but if we let that show, we’re only giving him what he wants, and I refuse to let that happen.”

“Exactly,” Sharpner agreed.  “I hate him just as much as anyone, and I won’t let him beat Macey.  I may not be able to stand a chance against him in a physical fight, but I’ll be dammed if I let him push me around just like he’s trying to do to her.  Earlier, he offered me a deal – my dream career handed to me in exchange for the reverse drug, and I turned it down.  There would be far more pride in _earning_ my dream career with my child and this gorgeous girl by my side.”

“A child is _a lot_ of work,” Bulma told them.  “More work than you think.  If you’re planning on balancing being a mother with school, training, finding a way to kill Kaiser, taking down the Order, working the C.I.A. contracts, and whatever else you want to do, then you’re up for quite the challenge – I was barely able to handle being a mother and work at the same time when Trunks was a baby.”

“I’m going to be there for her every step of the way,” Sharpner assured her.  “I’ll be taking on less than she will – all I have to worry about is being a father, keeping up my training, and working hard so that I get my baseball career going.  I know I don’t stand a chance against Kaiser or anyone in the Order, so I’m going to do what I can to make sure that she’s able to take them down.”

Macey chuckled.  “What kind of warrior would I be if I were to deny a challenge as big as this?  I’m not about to cower and run away from something just because it might be scary and change my life.  Yes, I want a normal life – it’s one of the things that I want more than anything, but it’s up to _me_ to make my life normal because no one else is going to do it for me, but more than that, my dream is to take Kaiser and the Order down and to become as strong as I can.  Our child will help me become stronger, help me in taking down Kaiser, and once I take down Kaiser, the Order is next.  Around those experiences, my normal life will form, and I will have won.”

Vegeta had a smirk come across his face from hearing the two teenagers.  “We start our more intense training tomorrow right after your contract,” Vegeta told his daughter, “and don’t expect me to go easy on you just because you’re pregnant.  I’ll try stay away from your stomach, but that’s all the leniency that you’ll get from me, and if I happen to slip up, it’s your responsibility to protect it.”

“Deal,” Macey smirked at her father.  “We’re going to be late if we don’t leave now,” she said as she looked at the time on her phone.  “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“You still have to be home by midnight,” Bulma said, reminding her stepdaughter about the C.I.A. deal. 

“Got it,” Macey replied with a nod.  “Ready?”  She asked Sharpner as she grabbed his hand, and smiled at him, and replying with only a smile, the two of them walked out of the lab, passed Vegeta, and headed towards the front door.  “What,” Macey chuckled in confusion when she couldn’t figure out why Sharpner was still smiling at her.

“You really are amazing; you know that?”  He replied as he wrapped his left arm around her and led her to his car for their date night to begin.

 _Second night of normality,_ Macey thought as she buckled herself into the passenger seat, keeping a tally of the amount of normal events that have happened to her so far.

 

…

**Part 3 – Hunter VS Huntress: Part 2**

 

The smell of iron filled her nostrils, and opening her eyes became the hardest thing in the world to do.  When she went to try to move, she realized that her arms were being held above her head, and her feet weren’t on the ground – she was hanging by her arms with a hard metal chain around them.  The world that spun made her nauseous, and every time she tried to move, her body would fight back.  Eventually, she was able to open her eyes enough to realize that she was still alive and regaining consciousness.  As her blurred vision came back into focus, she tried to figure out where she was.

            _What the hell happened?_ Nemei wondered.  _I should’ve died from that fall.  How the hell am I alive?_ While she looked around and noticed that she had been chained up to a ceiling beam and was hanging in the air, she became aware of the overwhelming iron smell, and she found a horror show beneath her when she tried to figure out what it was.  “Oh my God,” she whispered as she saw the sea of corpses beneath her.  _Is that what’s going to happen to me?  Where the hell am I?!  Oh well, I need to worry about how I’m going to get out of here first – the rest will come later._ Desperately, she tried to free herself from the chains that were binding her arms to the beam that was at least fifty-feet in the air, but her efforts proved useless.  _I think my wrist is broken,_ she thought as a sharp pain began to intensify with every move she made.  _Dammit, come on!_ Knowing that she wasn’t going to be able to break the chains that held her, she started to come up with another plan.  _Maybe if I swing my legs up so that they’re wrapped around the beam, I can make my way to the other side of the room at least.  This beam is made of wood, and the end with the most weight is the most vulnerable, but if I manage to break one end out of the wall that it’s attached to, not only will the beam come crashing down with me on it, but the ceiling might cave in._ After taking a few seconds to think, Nemei finally decided that she had to do what she could to try to get out of the room.  It took a few tries for her to get it, but on the fourth attempt, she was able to swing her legs up, wrap them around the beam, and begin making her way to one of the ends.  “This is old stone,” she said to herself as she looked at the material that the walls were made of.  “Ancient, if anything.  No time to waste – admire it later,” she told herself, and immediately, she began trying to break the end of the beam that she had chosen.  However, after about two minutes into her daring escape, she heard a faint conversation coming from the other side of the wall. 

               “Hav ba vai kl'rx klo ozvou'dork 't gaeu'rs?”  She heard one woman speak from the other side of the wall.                

 _Helun,_ she thought as she realized that it was the ancient Assassin language that she had already translated.  _“How do you think the experiment is faring?”_ She translated in her head.  Nemei scoffed.  “Fantastic as soon as I get out of here,” she said quietly as she continued trying to get free.              

“Ik tlairb do boaeb 'r ae r'kkro vl'ro.  Tlo qa'kot guad klo irbouuoaerd laeqo s'qor it klo'u drott'rs,” a guy replied to the woman, and again, Nemei translated to herself.

 _“It should be dead in a little while.  The voices from the underrealm have given us their blessing”,_ she translated.  _What the hell is the underrealm, and how the hell do they know Helun?_ Frantically, she tried to get the beam free once she realized the voices were getting closer to her.

“Wo tlairb laeqo ae saab goaetk kar'slk aerb gau daerv daart ka kado,” the woman laughed.

 _Oh hell no!_ Nemei yelled in her head.  _There’s no way you’re going to eat me tonight and for however many moons are to come.  No damn way!  Uh-uh._ Finally, thanks to her determination and anxiety, she was able to crack the stone with her feet, and the end of the beam that she had gone to fell out of the wall, and with Nemei on it, it fell into the sea of bodies.  _This is absolutely disgusting,_ she thought as she landed in the sea and became covered in the blood that acted as the water.  Trying her hardest not to throw up, she slid the chains off the end of the beam that had fallen out of the wall, and she waited until the two people she heard came into the room.  _Any second now._ As she stayed low and tried to blend in with the corpses around her, the old wooden door creaked open, the two people stepped inside, and immediately, they noticed that Nemei wasn’t on chained to the beam anymore.  Frantically, the guy sent the woman out of the room to search for her when they realized that she couldn’t have gotten far.  _Perfect,_ Nemei chuckled.  She watched the guy walk over to the fallen beam, and as soon as he made the mistake of turning his back to her, she took the chains that were still around her wrists, and used them as a weapon to kill him.  Because of the beating that had happened to him, he let out screams, so Nemei knew that his partner would come back.  Quickly, she ran to the wall next to the door, so that when his partner opened the door, she’d be behind it and out of sight, and just as she predicted, the woman came back in, and to make sure that no one else came in, Nemei quietly closed the door once she made it to her partner’s deceased body, and then came up behind her and used the chains as a garrote.  After making sure that no one else was going to come into the room, she began to try to figure out who they were, and why they had taken her.                

The man who had been the first to be killed had tan skin that was covered in dirt, and his hair was matted, long, and gray.  His face, which was covered in scars, seemed to put him in his late forties, and his large muscular body showed that he was active.  On his body, was an old, torn up red, long sleeve shirt, and he wore old, torn up black military pants with matching boots.  _He seems just like a normal guy who just doesn’t take care of himself,_ Nemei concluded.  However, when she went to take a closer look at his face, she opened his closed eyes and saw pure white eyes with no pupils, and when she looked at his mouth again, she noticed two large bumps on either side of his upper lip.  Curious, she opened up his lip and saw what appeared to be fangs.  _Okay, he’s not a normal guy,_ she changed her mind.  The woman who lay right next to him, was younger – maybe in her thirties – and she had pale, dirty skin, and her hair was short, brown, and also matted.  Her body looked to be emaciated, and her outfit greatly resembled the man’s – except that her shirt was black to match her pants and boots, and just like the guy, her eyes were pure white, and she had what appeared to be fangs.  “Don’t tell me they’re vampires,” Nemei scoffed.  “No, they can’t be.  How the hell would they know an ancient Assassin language?  They must have a weapon somewhere.”Nemei searched the pockets of the two deceased unknowns for a weapon, but in the end, she came up with nothing except a key to undo the chains from her wrists.  _Why the hell wouldn’t they carry a weapon?_ She wondered as she stood back up and started to unlock the chains.  As she did, her left wrist became limp and started to cause her a lot of pain.  “Damn, I think it _is_ broken,” she told herself as she held her left wrist.  “Sons of bitches,” she said as she let go of her wrist and held the chains in her right hand.  “I guess this’ll have to do.”  Slowly, she walked towards the wooden door, and with the chains in her right hand, she forced herself to open the door with her left.  As the creaking pierced her ears, the door opened, and she slowly stepped outside after making sure that no one heard her.  _Guess that’s all there was – for right now at least,_ she told herself as she stepped out into the night.  _I wonder how long I was out._ As she became certain that no one was going to attack her, she stepped out further in the night, and as she looked around, she realized where she had landed.  In shock and disbelief, she looked at the ancient city that looked almost exactly like the other ones she had found.  “No way,” she whispered to herself in disbelief.  “There’s no way I landed in an ancient Assassin civilization, but that might explain how they knew Helun.  No, there’s no way.  It has to be just a coincidence.”  As she walked around and looked at the ancient ruins around her, her doubts where thrown out the window when she saw the cliff that she had fallen from.  _What’re the odds that the fire that basically paved a path for me, led me here of all places?_ She wondered as she remembered running through the forest.  _Oh well, if this really is an ancient civilization, there has to be weapons somewhere – they may be old, but I’m willing to bet they’ll work._ “My backpack,” she said quietly as she realized she didn’t have it with her.  “Where the hell is my backpack?”              

“Psst,” a voice with a heavy Helunian accent whispered from a building behind her, immediately catching her attention and putting her on her guard, “over here.  I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”              

“Come out,” Nemei demanded.  “I’m not coming to you – you come to me if you want to talk to me.”  Without argument, the stranger who had whispered for Nemei stood out from behind the building, and once Nemei saw them, she lowered her chains.  The person who had attracted Nemei’s attention was an elderly woman who appeared to be in her eighties or so, and like the other two from earlier, she had dirty, dark-tanned skin, her eyes were white and without pupils, and her top canine teeth were fang-like.  Her short, gray hair was matted, and the light blue nightgown that she wore was torn up and nearly destroyed.  “What do you want?”  Nemei demanded to know, still staying on her guard.  “Are they dead?”  The woman asked quietly as she pointed to the room that Nemei had escaped from.“Why do you care?”  Nemei questioned suspiciously, making sure to keep her distance as the woman moved closer to her.  “Tell me what you want.”“I want to help,” the elderly woman said with sincerity.  “Let me help you.  I know why you are here.”“You don’t know anything about me,” Nemei countered. “But I do,” the woman argued.  “Your grandfather – the king of Saiyans, King Vegeta – I know him.  A tough man to get to know, but I know him.  Your father, the prince – never have I met him, but I know of him.  The Saiyans are our friends.  You are half-Saiyan, so you are our friend.”Nemei couldn’t believe or completely understand what the woman was saying.  “How the hell do you know all that?”  She demanded to know as she held her chains back up and readied herself for a fight.  “Come with me, please,” the woman begged.  “I’ll tell you all.”“Take off your nightgown and turn all the way around with your arms up,” Nemei ordered the elderly woman, and the woman became embarrassed at the request.“But I wear no undergarments under my gown,” she insisted.  “It’s all I have.”“I don’t care,” Nemei quickly replied.  “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.  I just swam through a sea of dead bodies and was almost eaten by a group of whatever the hell you all are, so pardon me if I’m a little on edge.  I need to make sure that you have no weapons.”  Without any more argument, the woman nodded in agreement, took her nightgown off, and spun around so that Nemei could see if she had any weapons on here.  “Thank you,” she said as she breathed a sigh of relief.  “You can put your gown back on,” she said as she walked towards the elderly woman, still making sure not to drop her guard.  “Tell me what you know.”“You sure do have your grandfather’s attitude,” the woman chuckled.  “Come with me, and I’ll tell you all you wish to know.”  Slowly, the woman turned around and headed towards a pile of ruins that had been made into a small house.  As Nemei followed her, the woman moved a large rock from the front entrance, and walked inside the makeshift house.  Inside, there wasn’t much of anything.  There was a single open room that had a few rotted, handmade chairs, a bearskin on the floor that acted a bed, a small handmade table that had a bucket of dirty water in it, and the smell of the tiny house was revolting. In the back corner, there was a hole that had been dug to act as a bathroom and beside it was an empty bucket that was used for cleaning it out.  “Would you like some water?”  The woman asked as she pointed to the bucket with the dirty water.  “I know you must be thirsty.”“Uh, no,” Nemei answered as she looked at the filthy water.  “I’m good.”“Well, you’re free to use it to wash that blood off of you,” the woman said.  “I know you must not like being covered in blood.” _I’d rather be covered in blood than spend another second in here,_ Nemei thought.  _This place is awful.  Oh well, I suppose she can’t help it._ “Just tell me how you knew all that and what you think you know,” Nemei commanded as the woman sat down in one of the rotted chairs.  “I don’t have time to visit.”“Where should I start?”  The woman asked as she tried to figure out where to begin her story.  “It must’ve been 40 years ago when the King of Saiyans first came here,” she began.  “I was 42 when he came across our little village.  He came to destroy the planet, but when he landed here, he met Mister Mors.”“Arikane?”  Nemei asked. “Yes,” the woman nodded.  “Arikane.  They had a meeting, and Mister Vegeta left our planet without causing any destruction.  We, the villagers, were interested in the meeting that took place, so Arikane told us.”“What did he tell you?”  Nemei asked as her interest grew in the story that was being told to her. “Much,” the woman smiled.  “I was born in this village, so I never knew of where our people once came from, but Mister Arikane told us all that he created this village and many others like it many hundreds of years prior to the meeting with the Saiyan King to run away from the Assassins.  He never liked the Assassins, but he told us that he couldn’t let them know that he made a run away village and let other Assassins use it for a place to escape to.  He would have died.  When the Saiyan King came here, Mister Arikane made a deal with him.  Mister Arikane wanted Planet Phonoi destroyed, and he knew that the Saiyans had the possibility to do it.  Mister Vegeta heard of the riches on Planet Phonoi, so he decided to let the Earth live.  He told Mister Arikane how he could get Planet Phonoi destroyed.  So, Mister Vegeta went to his boss – I forget his name – but his boss was interested, and a few months later they arranged a meeting with Mister Arikane.  Mister Arikane, Mister Vegeta, and Mister Vegeta’s boss made a deal.  They would have to wait many years to destroy Phonoi because Mister Arikane wanted the young prince, who was three years old at the time, to do it, so it was specially set aside for him until he became older.  However, his reason for wanting the King’s prince to do it many years in the future was so that a baby with half-Assassin and a strong half-Saiyan bloodline could be made after the destruction of Planet Phonoi.  Because Mister Arikane knew that it would occur 24 years after the deal was made, he made sure that he was going to get off the planet in time.  During the 24 year waiting period, Mister Arikane got married and had a son.  He purposely married his wife because of a special power that ran in her family, but he’s never spoken of what her special power was, but her special power was another reason for using the Saiyan Prince as the father of the baby.  He wanted to make sure that the baby had the best chance of having the special power because his son ended up with his ability that seemed to be the dominant ability because only one other person in the Tacita family has ever had the special power.  On the day of the destruction of Phonoi, Mister Arikane and his wife had already left each other, and his son was four years old.  Mister Arikane gave his former wife a drink that would attract her to the Saiyan Prince, and in the end, they ended up in bed together.  He knew that the Saiyan Prince would leave a trace of himself behind, so when her body was brought to his lab, he extracted what he needed, took some of his wife’s eggs, and once the planet started to blow up, he ran with his four-year-old son.  Then, when they got to the safe planet, Mister Arikane had to find out where the other Saiyans were so that the baby he would make could be raised with them.  He found out that the Saiyans’ planet was destroyed, so it made his search harder.  Then, one day when he came on a mission to Earth, he found some Saiyans, and he knew what he had to do.  Queen Enyo was upset about her planet being destroyed, and she wanted to make the Saiyans pay.  Mister Arikane convinced Queen Enyo to create New Phonoi inside the Earth in exchange for her revenge.  She agreed under the term that the baby that Mister Arikane would make from the Saiyan Prince and his wife’s DNA would be raised and trained to kill the Saiyans, but in reality, that wasn’t what he had in mind.  From what I hear, his wish is for the baby that he made to finish killing off the surviving Assassins, but in order for the baby to be able to do it, she must possess the special power that his wife’s family had.”              

From hearing the woman’s story about what happened all those years ago, Nemei was shocked, taken back, and it became difficult for her to form words.  “So, Arikane planned Planet Phonoi’s destruction and Dea and me being created 40 something years ago?”  Nemei asked, trying to get some clarity.  “What is this special power that our mother’s family had?”

“Yes,” the woman confirmed.  “And I do not know,” the woman admitted.  “It was only seen by one Assassin thousands of years ago, and it has never been seen again.”

“How old is Arikane?”  Nemei asked.

The woman shrugged.  “No one knows,” she said.  “He’s never told.  I figure he must be dead.  I have not seen him about 10 years.”

“Why did he want Prince Vegeta to do it instead of King Vegeta?”  Nemei asked.  “It would’ve been done sooner, and it would’ve been the same bloodline.”

Again, the woman shrugged.  “Again, I do not know, but I am sure that Mister Arikane has a reason.  He always has a reason.”

“He led me here,” Nemei whispered to herself as she remembered the fire path that she was forced to follow.  “What were those people who tried to kill me?”

“They are the children of one of the ancient Assassins who first came here – much like myself.  Many different guilds of Assassins came to stay in one of Mister Arikane’s run away villages, but this is just one of them,” she told her. “I know of one guild forming an organization that does not like the Assassins and tries to watch them, but some are still loyal to the Order and Queen Enyo, and we are so close to the surface of the new Phonoi, that they can hear the Assassins talk about the wanted, so they like to kill and feast on the people who are wanted, and if any random person happens to drop down here, they end up doing experiments on them.”

“The underrealm.  The voices from the underrealm,” Nemei whispered.  “I have to go,” Nemei said frantically as she began to bolt out of the entrance.  _I need to get back home to Dea._

“Be careful out there,” the woman whispered.  “Those aren’t the only two.”

“Thank you,” Nemei nodded.  “For everything.  You’ve really helped.”  Quickly Nemei ran out of the small house and back out into the darkness, searching every ruin she came across for her lost backpack, weapons, or any other resources.  _I have to get home,_ she told herself.  _If I got down here, there has to be a way back up._               

“Tl't vaev!”  A guard who was dressed like the man that Nemei had killed yelled, informing his followers of where Nemei had run off to.  Quickly, she ducked behind an old stone wall and hid in the shadows. _Damn, they saw my footprints._ The guard and his men followed Nemei’s footprints to the elderly woman’s front door and commanded her to open up.  As she did, they angrily interrogated her of where Nemei had gone, and unable to do anything with just her chain, Nemei was forced to watch the altercation.  However, the woman never gave Nemei up even though she could see her hiding behind the stone wall.  Discretely, she gave Nemei a signal to run away, but she couldn’t help but stay put and watch the scene.  Due to the woman’s stubbornness and reluctance to give up the young half-Saiyan, the guard took the sword off of his back and drove it through the woman’s stomach, killing her instantly.  “No,” she quietly whispered to herself as anger and shock overcame her.  _She was just an innocent old woman,_ she told herself with tears in her eyes.  Now angry but still unable to do anything, Nemei quietly scampered off while the guards continued their search, and eventually, she found herself standing in front of the cliff that she had fallen down.  _Now I just have to figure out a way to get back up._


End file.
